


With No Regrets

by Blazonix



Series: Together to the Future [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Changing things up, Friendship, Gen, No one really knows what they're doing, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2018-05-27 18:41:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 79,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6295462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blazonix/pseuds/Blazonix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How far do you go for what you love? He already knows the answer: all the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At the start

“I’ve got it!” Hinata shouts.

“Good! Don’t let it get away!” He barks.

“It’s getting away,” Sasuke says, annoyed.

“Over here, Hinata! We’ll get it together!” Sakura calls out to her.

“Hey, hey! Watch me, I’ll get it!”

The sound of glass breaking echoes through the forest.

 “NARUTO!” They scream.

-*-

Sunglasses glint at him in despair, and he winces.

“Sorry, Shino. Your butterfly flew away. It was unholy in how fast that thing was,” he tells him.

He’d never seen a bug move that fast.

“I can’t believe it managed to evade all of us,” Sakura says in disbelief.

It also somehow knew evasion techniques.

“Geh,” Sasuke spits.

Has to hurt the Uchiha pride, he thinks, to be unable to catch a butterfly in a net.

“U-Um, sorry. I thought I had it, but…” Hinata says looking down.

He pats her on the shoulder; she did her best.

“Yeah, that was totally a bug from hell!” Naruto pipes up.

“You don’t get to say anything. You’re the one that broke the container. You also managed to shred our nets at the same time,” Sakura says through gritted teeth.

“It’s not like any of you were gonna catch it!” Naruto shoots back.

Well, he has a point.

“Oi, let’s just go get dinner. Shino, Akamaru and I remember what it smells like. We’ll go find it tomorrow, alright?” He offers.

Shino gives him a shallow nod, and he knows the Aburame is still upset.

“Ichiraku’s!” Naruto shouts, bouncing.

Sakura sighs,

“Again?”

“That moron will end up with noodles for a brain,” Sasuke scoffs.

“U-Um, Ichiraku’s sounds…good?” Hinata questions.

“Yeah, fine,” he agrees.

Akamaru barks.

“Akamaru says next time, he’s picking the place.”

-*-

He stares at himself, and thinks, _this is so awesome_.

His clone grins back and waves goodbye before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Forty seconds.

He grins as the memories of waving at himself fill his head.

He’ll have the Three-Headed Wolf transformation yet.

-*-

His palms are sweaty, and he can feel his eyes narrow.

Ino sits across from him.

He has to be able to do this; he can’t stall any longer.

“So I heard we’re about to have a bunch of outsiders in the village,” she says.

Ino's eyes are studying the table between them.

“Yeah?” He asks as he avoids looking at her.

He decides to roll the dice.

They almost bump heads to get a look.

“Hah! Looks like you’re going back to Iwa!” Ino shouts.

“Man, I just got out of there,” he groans as he moves his piece down the board.

He’s never going to leave it at this rate.

“I’m going to be in Konoha before you,” Ino taunts.

“Can’t you guys go play sugoroku somewhere else?” Shikamaru grunts.

The Nara is lying on the floor next to them, and Akamaru’s hovering over him.

He’s probably aggravated because they forced their way into his house, and Akamaru licks him every time he tries to sleep.

Ino and he share a look.

“Nope!” They chirp.

“Troublesome,” Shikamaru groans.

“So, outsiders?” He prompts.

“Yeah,” she says looking down at the dice in concern, “we’re hosting the promoting test for genin-“

“Chunin Exams,” Shikamaru interrupts from the floor.

“-Chunin Exams,” Ino continues, shooting Shikamaru a glare, “in Konoha. I overheard a few people talking about it. Most people are betting on Sasuke to be the final winner.”

A dreamy smile forms on her face as she coos,

“Of course my Sasuke will win, there’s no way he can lose.”

She rolls the dice and lands on the path to go to Konoha.

“Troublesome,” he decides.

-*-

“Oi, Sakura,” he tells her over dinner, “Ino told me we’re hosting the Chunin Exams.”

This is the wrong thing to say at the wrong time.

She spits hot tea into his face, knocks the rest onto Akamaru, and her chopsticks hit him in the head as she struggles to stand.

Akamaru lets out a yelp, she sprints for the door, and he’s left wiping tea out of his eyes.

He doesn’t realize his sleeve has sauce on it until he feels the burn.

There can’t be worse dinners than this one, he thinks as Ma and Sis laugh at him.

-*-

“You want what?” He asks flatly.

Hinata is fidgeting and poking her fingers; Shino’s giving him stare number five, “You heard me.”

“The Hyuuga formally invites the newly declared Inuzuka’s heir to dine with them,” Hinata repeats.

“Father wishes to meet the other genin on my team,” Hinata says shyly.

“I, too, wish to extend a formal invitation. Why? Because the Aburame clan wishes to acknowledge the Inuzuka’s heir while simultaneously holding a meeting session with a teammate.” Shino says once Hinata falls silent.

He stares at them before sharing a look with Akamaru.

This going to end terribly; he just knows it.

-*-

“Alright, maybe if we use a Shadow Clone?” He asks. “I know it only lasts a minute, but that’s all I’ll need to tell them to bite me.”

Akamaru sighs.

“You’re right. I can’t make a clone for you too,” he says nodding to himself.

“Maybe you should just be polite?” Sakura says not looking up from her medical book.

Polite to the Hyuuga? Obviously Sakura has gone off the deep end.

Though, he recognized that the moment she told him, with the weirdest smile, “It’s just rumors. The Chunin Exams couldn’t possibly be coming up.”

“Your mother will know what to do,” he decides already heading for the door.

“She’ll just tell you to buy fruit,” Sakura says dully from her bed.

He winces.

Polite it is.

-*-

Dinner with the Hyuuga goes better than expected.

-*-

The Hyuuga clan grounds are wholly traditional and serene. Hyuuga clan members seem to ghost through the corridors, reserved and restrained.

He decides he hates it immensely.

It’s a struggle to maintain a polite demeanor thanks to the dining placements.

Akamaru sits next to him, denied his own plate, and pretending he can’t understand what’s going on around him.

It’s a slap in the face, but they both knew it would happen.

Akamaru wants to hold off causing a scene because of Hinata. It’s the only reason he lets it go.

Dinner is quiet and uncomfortable; Hinata keeps her head down, and her sister gives him disdainful looks when she thinks he can’t see.

Aside from his teammate, every Hyuuga here keeps belittling him; it’s getting on his nerves.

“You are remarkably composed,” Hyuuga Hiashi tells him.

You’re not behaving like an animal like the rest of your people, is what is being said.

“Usually, the Inuzuka like to show how,” he pauses, “sincere their feelings are.”

He bares his fangs in response.

“I’m trying to make this painless for Hinata’s sake, but if you want, I can show you how _sincere_ we like to be.”

It’s not an idle threat.

Akamaru is stiff beside him, ready to show the Hyuuga the true Inuzuka spirit.

He’s only trying so hard because Hinata is giving him those wounded animal looks.

He does not need to bow to anyone.

Once Hinata becomes clan head, none of this formal setting will be needed anyways.

“I’m surprised you’re able to able to understand Hinata’s position,” the Hyuuga says in disbelief.

-*-

If that had been the end of it, dinner would have probably ended on a quiet, terse note.

-*-

“It’s hard on her to have someone of your heritage as a teammate. Most never realize their own behavior,” Hiashi adds somberly.

“Oh?” He says.

He looks to the ceiling in thought and hums.

“Oi, Akamaru, let’s show them our sincere gratitude for the meal.”

Akamaru doesn’t hesitate to jump on the table, and he gives the startled Hyuuga a fanged grin.

The only person he cares about around this table is Hinata; since she’ll be clan head, they’ll have no trouble forming an alliance in the future.

If she doesn’t, then there’s no point in being friendly.

(And if she winds up with the caged bird seal, he’s going to kill every single Main House Hyuuga until it doesn’t matter anymore; it’s been decided)

-*-

They tell him to never come back.

Politely.

It totally went better than he thought it would.

-*-

Dinner with the Aburame is…well.

-*-

“Oi,” he says.

He regrets it when a legion of sunglasses zero in on him.

“I would just like to, er, apologize now in case I do…something to offend?” He expresses weakly.

“Noted,” Aburame Shibi states.

The sunglasses don’t stop staring at him, and he can feel himself sweating.

The meal continues on in silence.

Shino is incredibly unhelpful and offers no cues. He’s completely silent; no familiar hum comes from his bugs.

Even at Shino’s quietest, he can normally hear the movement of the kikaichu. It’s disconcerting not to hear it at all.

Akamaru nudges him. The ninken is also disturbed.

No one is making a noise; there’s no talking, no sound of kikaichu, or even rustling of movement.

It’s getting to him.

He breaks.

“Alright, I can’t take it anymore.”

The sunglasses seem to stare into his soul.

“Sorry Shino, but the silence is _killing_ me. Buzz will you?” He demands.

He expects Shino’s “You’re an embarrassment” stare; to his confusion, Shino seems to be giving his “I told you so” stare to his father.

“You do not mind our insects?” Shibi asks, lowering his chopsticks.

He stares at the man.

“Why would I? I mean, your kikaichu are like our ninken. They’re you’re precious partners right?” He asks, confused.

He doesn’t understand the question.

Are they pretending their kikaichu don’t exist?

“If you’re making them hide, stop it. I’d never make Akamaru pretend he wasn’t important,” he states firmly.

Akamaru reminds him about the Hyuuga dinner.

“You were the one who said to not be offended! That’s not my fault,” he argues.

Akamaru tells him he’s remembering wrong.

“I am not!”

Wrong, Akamaru barks.

“You said you wanted to make sure Hinata’s feelings weren’t hurt,” he growls.

Akamaru scoffs at him.

His chopsticks go flying as he recounts to his hard-headed partner exactly what happened.

“Kiba.”

He stops.

Shino’s looking at him with that disapproving stare, he just knows it.

He remembers where he’s at and winces.

“Sorry.” He mutters.

The ninken laughs, and he has to grit his teeth from responding.

When he turns back to his meal, he realizes he has nothing to eat with.

He stares at his plate in dismay; if he was eating with his family, they wouldn’t care if he ate with his hands, but he’s not.

It’s a crazy concept, but he actually does have to pretend he’s civilized.

He blinks when a pair of new chopsticks descends from the heavens to hover in front of him.

He takes them, and the kikaichu return back to Shino.

“Thanks.” He grins.

Shino nods back, buzzing.

He breaks his chopsticks, and the rest of the table breaks out into a hum.

The silence disappears.

-*-

He thinks it went well, but he’s not completely sure.

Aburame are weird.

He’ll probably dream about drowning in sunglasses later.

-*-

“Very good,” Kurenai-sensei says looking them over with a pleased expression,

“You’ve all done wonderfully. I couldn’t have asked for better students.”

He lifts an eyebrow.

“Really, sensei?” He asks incredulously.

“Hinata just kicked me to the Land of Wind and back,” he says holding up his tenketsu-blocked arms.

Hinata’s giving him a regretful look, but he knows better.

Hinata, the weak Hyuuga heiress? Nope, she’s completely hardcore; she’ll kick your ass while apologizing for not being sorry.

Shino’s buzzing at him in amusement, the bastard.

“It would have gone differently had I allowed you to use Akamaru,” Kurenai-sensei tells him, lips quirking up.

“You mean she would have only kicked me out of the gates?” He asks deadpan.

Akamaru barks out a reminder: Hinata adores the ninken; she would have only gone after him even harder to avoid hurting Akamaru.

Other side of Land of Earth, at least, the ninken says.

He’s right of course.

“Hinata, remove the blocks, please,” Kurenai-sensei requests.

Once he regains the chakra circulation in arms, Kurenai-sensei gestures for their attention.

“I have something for you to consider,” Kurenai-sensei tells them.

She gives them a serious look.

“In two days the Chunin Exams will begin. I have the utmost confidence in each of you. If you wish to take part, I will nominate you.”

She pauses a moment.

“I understand if you don’t think you’re ready,” Kurenai-sensei says, “but since Konoha is hosting, this is a good chance to see where you stand.”

She’s waits for their answers, and all he can think is, _two days_.

He glances at Hinata and Shino.

Hinata’s eyes are wide, but she smells calm.

Shino’s gone quiet in thought; he smells like confidence.

He waits for their nods and takes a breath.

Two days before it begins.

Akamaru tells him to get on with it.

“Team 8’s entering,” he tells his teacher confidently.

He grins.

“We’re going to be awesome.”

-*-

Once the day’s training ends, he decides to seek out Sakura.

He figures Kakashi will follow the normal pattern and spring it on Team 7 at the last minute.

The last thing Sakura needs is to break down in front of her teacher.

“Say what,” Sakura says flatly.

He winces.

Akamaru has decided he wants no part of this conversation and is hiding behind him.

“Just thought you might like the heads up,” he tells her.

She grabs him by the jacket and shakes.

“Are you telling me I don’t even have time to panic about this?” She yells

“I think you’re panicking right now,” he points out helpfully.

She’s giving him the crazy eyes; he can feel her grip tightening on his collar.

“You know,” he tries, “It might not be so bad. I’m told most of the competition are entering Konoha today. I haven’t heard of any genin causing trouble.”

She doesn’t say anything.

“We can go check them out?” He tries again.

Sakura opens her mouth, closes it, and sighs.

“Fine,” she says in defeat.

Her shoulders slump, and she lets go of him.

Akamaru asks if it’s safe yet, and he gives the ninken a dirty look.

-*-

“That’s a lot of ninja,” Sakura says weakly.

He frowns.

She’s right; it is.

There’s no way he can keep track of them all either.

Genin teams are entering with their jonin-sensei, and he can see ninja from Sand, Rain, Waterfall, Grass, and-

He can’t find the team from Sound.

His eyes rove over the foreign ninja pouring through the gate, but he doesn’t see what he’s looking for.

He doesn’t know if he would have been able to memorize Orochimaru’s scent with all the distortion anyway.

-*-

He’s stunned when Sakura doesn’t wake him in the middle of the night.

It’s surprising, but-

She must have everything under control for once, he tries telling himself.

(Unfortunately he knows her too well; he knows she’s running away)

-*-

Training finishes early; Kurenai-sensei wants them well-rested.

Hinata’s currently telling Akamaru about something her sister’s done, and he’s having a strangely interesting conversation with Shino over the benefits of ants, when Sakura barrels into him.

Her smell of fear is almost overpowering.

“KibaKibaKiba,” She babbles, clutching his arm.

She’s pale and touching him. Not good, he thinks.

A spike of his own fear goes through him, and he searches her for injuries.

He doesn’t smell anything, but maybe-

“What?” He asks when he can’t find anything.

“I met him,” she says fearfully. “He’s going to kill us all.”

Ah, he knows exactly who she’s referring to.

“Alright, alright. Take a deep breath,” he tells her. “Did it go exactly how you thought it would, or was it different?”

“It went—It went differently, but only by a bit. I mean, I didn’t chase—it was just the words. Everything else went according to—how I thought it would,” she says shakily.

She buries her head in his shoulder.

“He’s a monster.”

Shino’s watching them with furrowed eyebrows, and Hinata’s looking at them with worry.

He motions the Hyuuga over.

Hinata doesn’t waste time and offers a timid hug. Sakura latches onto the other girl like she’s dying.

Meeting a demon is never easy, he thinks.

-*-

He decides to go buy some dango and leaves Sakura in the care of his teammates.

He trusts them; neither of them will try to pry, and they’re both fond of her.

He can’t do much for Sakura, but comfort food is universal no matter what life you live.

-*-

He doesn’t make it to the dango stand.

There are three Ame ninja looking at him in contempt and disgust.

They smell of rain and a special wax.

“What you looking at, mutt?” The girl of the team sneers.

His eyes narrow.

Rain ninja are notorious for their short, violent tempers, but-

“You were staring me down first,” He says baring his teeth.

Akamaru’s watching them stiff, eyes unmoving.

There’s something about these three that have the ninken’s hackles going.

“Maybe it’s because you’re such an eyesore, dog,” the boy to her left jeers.

He growls, and Akamaru lets out a warning bark.

“Face markings: red. Eyes: close to slits. Animal partner: ninken. This boy: Inuzuka,” the other boy cites.

He stares them down.

All three of them are wearing rebreathers, one of the boys is carrying a tank of water on his back, and the other two are carrying umbrellas.

They look like typical ninja from Ame, but there’s just something about them that rubs him the wrong way.

The two boys smell like the typical beginner-level chunin, but the girl doesn’t.

Ah, there’s the rub; he can’t smell her power at all.

He keeps his fangs bared.

“You’re not exactly an outstanding looker yourself,” he pauses before grinning, “ugly.”

The short, squat boy to the girl’s left stiffens.

“What did you just call me?” The Rain ninja asks angrily.

“You heard me,” He says still baring his teeth.

“I’m gonna-”

“Enough,” the girl says firmly, “you will not fight until I say so. Head back to the room, Shinta. Yasuhiro, make sure this idiot doesn’t do anything stupid.”

The taller boy with the water tank nods to her.

“But Takara, he-” Shinta starts.

“No buts. Move it,” Takara says with a glare.

The boy, Shinta, throws him a dirty look, but doesn’t argue when his teammate grabs him by the arm and pulls him away.

He doesn’t watch them leave; he keeps his eyes on the true threat.

The girl looks at him coldly, and he studies her in return.

Truly, her appearance isn’t anything special compared to the other Rain ninja, but there’s one thing that stands out.

There’s a scratched out etching on her rebreather.

He’s not sure why, but it’s pulling his eyes to it.

It almost looks like—

“Inuzuka, keep out of my way, and I’ll keep out of yours,” she says breaking his thought.

“If I don’t?” He asks challenging.

“Then I will not hesitate to kill you,” she says before turning away.

He watches her leave and doesn’t move until Akamaru no longer smells her.

-*-

He barely remembers the dango; Akamaru has to remind him.

He knows he’s worrying his teammates and Sakura with his muted actions, but it’s not something he can help.

Something inside of him is shifting in unrest; something not even Akamaru fully understands.

The ninken can sense something wrong, and that’s all that really matters.

-*-

His uneasiness doesn’t go away even when he should be sleeping.

He can’t decide whether it’s because of the unsettling Rain ninja, or his own worries about the Chunin Exams.

He stares at the paper running a thumb over the ink.

He hasn’t forgotten that someone besides Orochimaru is targeting Sasuke.

It’s just a matter of waiting for something to break.

The worst part is that almost every single person is watching the last Uchiha because of the Exams.

Friends, foes, and bystanders all have something riding on a boy they’ve never met.

All eyes are on Sasuke, and it’s bothering him.

Akamaru manages to convince him to rest, and he dreams about drowning in a rain of tears.

-*-

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

He slowly opens his eyes and groans into the pillow.

Tap Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-

“Oi,” he growls at the window, “I’m getting up. I’m getting up.”

Akamaru whines, but he grabs the ninken anyway.

If he has to suffer, so does his partner.

-*-

Same park, same bench, same starry sky, but no snacks.

Damn it, he thinks.

Sakura sits next to him, gripping her arms in a parody of a self-hug.

She hasn’t said anything, but her pale face speaks volumes.

“So,” he says.

Akamaru hides under the bench when her reply is to let out a loud wail.

“So,” he says once she’s finished, “you haven’t made up your mind, then?”

She lets out a warbled hissing noise.

He’s impressed; it’s a new “Sakura thinks the world is ending” sound.

“I kept trying to get you to think about it,” he tells her irritably.

She gives him a teary look, and he feels most of his irritation fade away.

“Everything’ll be fine,” he sighs.

She flinches.

“Seriously, you’re strong, your teammates are strong, and,” he says teasingly, “Akamaru wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

Akamaru barks his agreement from under the bench.

“So?” He asks calmly.

She opens her mouth, closes it, and then-

“What do I do?” Sakura wails.

“Well, first off, what do you want to do?” He questions.

The glare she’s giving him is striking.

“I wouldn’t be asking that if I knew,” she hisses.

“What’s going to happen is going to happen whether you like it or not,” he says slowly, “but that doesn’t mean you have to do something you don’t want to do. You could even hide away until it’s over, if you like.”

She bows her head, but her shoulders are stiff.

“That’s not an option,” she whispers.

He smirks.

“Then you know what you want to do. Now figure out what you’re going to do.”

She’s quiet for a moment.

“What I want to do, doesn’t necessarily mean what I’m going to do,” she says trying to work it out.

“What I should do is let things play out so that everyone comes out of it alive,” she pauses and looks to the sky.

“But?” He prompts when she doesn’t continue.

“But that’s not something I’m going to do,” she finishes. “It’s not something I _can_ do.”

“Well, you’re narrowing it down,” he tells her.

She gives him a wobbly smile.

-*-

She leaves still thinking, but there are no longer tears in her eyes.

He counts it as a win.

Akamaru doesn’t come out from under the bench until she’s gone, the coward.

-*-

He’s on his way to the Aburame clan grounds when his smells it.

It’s a unique smell he’s been forced to memorize; the scent of a stupid bug from hell.

Akamaru, who feels the sting of failure, wants to go after it.

Why not, he thinks.

Shino’s not actually expecting him, and the bug-user will be ecstatic if he manages to capture the damn thing.

Akamaru lets out a confident bark, and they follow the trail to a nearby training zone.

A butterfly with beautiful blue wings rests on a flower; it’s rather big for its kind, and its wings are gently moving.

Bug from hell, he thinks.

He splits up with Akamaru; the ninken is going to chase it towards him.

Their tactic works, and the butterfly is directly in front of him.

“Gotcha!” He says bringing his hands together.

The butterfly swerves at the last moment, and flutters past him.

“No, wait! Come back here!” He yells at it.

The butterfly zips away at an incredible speed.

 “Oi, did you hear me? Shino still gets depressed whenever you’re brought up!” He says while chasing after it.

-*-

Akamaru and he chase it further into the training grounds, and his hand just barely grazes the stupid bug-

He dodges the chakra threads aiming for his fingers.

His nails dig into the ground, ready to launch himself forward; Akamaru is next to him prepared to do the same.

“Pft, a dog-boy chasing after butterflies. Now I’ve seen everything,” a face painted purple smirks down at him.

The black-clothed figure is lazily swirling chakra threads around Shino’s butterfly, keeping it trapped in his palm.

There’s no mistaking it; Kankuro stands before him.

He smells like sand, wood, loathing, and fear.

He narrows his eyes.

“Oi, let it go,” he growls.

Akamaru lets out his own irritated bark.

“How about, no?” Kakuro says still smirking.

He watches the butterfly hovering over the Sand ninja’s hand and grits his teeth in frustration.

“Just why are you here, Sand?” He asks.

“Chunin Exams, or are you too stupid to understand that?” Kankuro mocks.

He bares his fangs.

“You’re not very bright. I’m asking why you’re not with your team. Running from your brother?” He taunts.

“Keh, what do _you_ know?” The Suna ninja snarls.

“Friends of mine ran into your team. I’m told you like to pick on kids, but can’t stand up to your teammate,” he says with his own smirk.

Nothing but a bully, he remembers Sakura telling him.

The still entrapped butterfly does nothing but reinforce Sakura’s impression.

“You’re the Kazekage’s kids, right? So that makes him,” he pauses in a mockery of thought, “your little brother. You’re scared of your own brother. Ouch.” He says as Kankuro twitches.

He can smell the loathing getter stronger; it makes him grin.

“Do you want to die? I can help you out if you do,” Kankuro says reaching for the puppet on his back.

Akamaru, already tense, snarls.

As much as he wants to show this bastard the meaning of agony—

“I’d love to shove your face into the ground, but it’ll trouble my teammates.” He tells him.

He doesn’t want to be barred for killing a participant beforehand. (Being immediately executed for killing the son of the Kazekage would be bad too)

“I’ll come find you in the Chunin Exams and kick your ass,” he promises.

Kankuro halts immediately.

He removes his hand from the bandages hiding Karasu; his other hand is still keeping the butterfly in place.

His smell has…changed?

“You’re a genin?” Kankuro asks with narrow eyes. “Looks like I don’t need to waste the effort to kill you after all. Do you think Gaara will let you live?”

His own eyes narrow; why has the other ninja’s aggression stopped?

“Threats like that won’t stop me from fighting against either of you as a ninja of Konoha,” he responds.

Something in this conversation has changed; it’s unsettling.

“You really think you can fight against Gaara and live? Against me? Moron,” Kankuro scoffs.

Despite the Sand ninja’s words, he doesn’t smell the arrogance.

“I’ve got something to fight for,” he tells him.

He thinks of dogs, green eyes, the color white, and the sound of bugs.

“You mean die for,” the puppeteer sneers.

“Man, you’re really pissing me off,” he scowls. “I can’t die. Too many people are counting on me.”

His clan, his comrades, and his country, all of them are depending on him whether they know it or not.

“Are they counting on you to protect them?” The Suna ninja derides, stilling his fingers covered in chakra threads.

The Suna ninja throws him a smirk, and quicker than he can anticipate, closes his fist, crushing Shino’s butterfly.

“You couldn’t protect a bug,” Kankuro says cruelly.

_You can’t protect any of them_

To Akamaru’s confusion, he stops the ninken from dashing forward.

Shino will be so disappointed, he thinks.

He can’t stop looking at those brilliant, blue wings twisted in the Sand ninja’s fist.

Can’t protect who? Sakura? His clan, his teammates, his comrades?

“You’re wrong,” he tells the puppeteer, something in him twisting like the butterfly.

“You’re completely, utterly wrong.”

He briefly wonders what his face must look like because Kankuro has stepped back and is looking at him almost in fear.

He grins his fanged grin.

“This is for Shino’s bug,” he says and swings.

He doesn’t need to protect them; they can save themselves.

Kankuro manages to avoid getting hit in the face, but his hood goes flying.

The puppeteer takes a defensive stance and is watching him warily.

Akamaru is ready to go, but there’s nothing to fight about, not really.

He knows why he was so unsettled.

This guy’s like Naruto; he just doesn’t get it.

He laughs.

“You think I can monitor everything these guys do? That I can protect them from all harm?” He asks.

“They’ve got things to protect too, you know. They have to fight for what they love, for their dreams, and for themselves. If that takes them against your brother, well, I’ll just have to be there with them,” he says grinning.

“You don’t know Gaara! If you did, you wouldn’t be saying that so casually,” Kankuro tells him with a frown, not moving.

He has a point really. He knows what Gaara was on paper and ink, but he’s never known the one in the flesh.

He studies the Sand ninja thoughtfully.

It’s different for this guy though. He thinks he understands this Kankuro far better than he ever did.

“You’re afraid of him, but you feel like you have to protect your brother from both himself and those around him, right?” He asks.

The puppeteer’s face twists slightly, and he continues,

“You also feel like you have to protect others from him, especially stupid kids. You want them to fear you before they have to fear your brother.”

It’s all coming together, this image of the one called, “Kankuro.”

“It hurts not being able to protect anyone,” he states.

“You’re wrong!” The other ninja shouts.

“You’re just pathetic compared to Gaara,” Kankuro says with a sneer, but there’s no hiding that smell.

He smells of fear and loathing.

He gets it now.

“I can’t always protect them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try,” he tells him,

“I appreciate the warning, but this isn’t something I can back down from. Even if it leads to death, I’ve got someone I have to follow. Just like you, I have someone I have to stand beside no matter what.”

He motions to Akamaru; he leaves Kankuro, who’s still prepared for a fight, behind.

Maybe Sakura would like to go get a late breakfast, he muses.

He’s not worried about leaving his back to the enemy; this fight was over before it even began.

They’re both just trying to keep their precious person from falling off the edge; that’s nothing to brawl over.

-*-

She agrees, but it’s not quite what he had in mind.

Sakura’s sitting across from him, chewing on her skewered pork.

Akamaru is sitting in between them with a piece of chicken, and he’s got his own skewered chicken he’s enjoying.

That’s not what’s strange about their meal.

“Think you’re so clever hiding up there? Trying to spy?” A Suna ninja calls up to them.

“As if we’d be hiding so obviously, you jerk! We’re just eating!” Sakura yells down at him, waving her skewer.

“In a tree?” The foreign ninja asks in disbelief.

“We’re ninja of the Leaf,” Sakura tells him seriously.

The Suna ninja buys it and walks away shaking his head about weird Konoha ninja.

Sakura flashes him a sign of victory, and he gives her his own look of disbelief.

They’re totally checking out the enemy force in broad daylight.

Akamaru barks out a laugh.

“So have you decided what you’re going to do?” He asks her.

“Mm, well,” she says, eyes roving over the Suna ninja below them, “I haven’t completely made up my mind. It’s kind of scary you know.”

Knowing what I know, knowing Orochimaru will be there, and knowing we might run into Gaara, she doesn’t say.

They have to be careful with their words; they’re completely surrounded by the enemy.

“Sasuke and Naruto are over the moon about taking it. Sasuke will probably get himself into trouble if you keep him from entering,” he cautions.

Orochimaru will probably go after Sasuke even if they don’t enter the Chunin Exams.

“Yeah,” she says with a nervous laugh, “he’s always been like that. How am I supposed to be teammates with a guy like that?”

Help me, she’s silently screaming.

“Hmm,” he hums to stall for time, “well, I suppose with a troubling guy like that I’d-“

He taps Akamaru, and the ninken starts barking out random compliments to Sakura; he pretends to be a normal dog that just wants attention and buys him time to think.

It’s a puzzling one, really. Even if Sasuke doesn’t enter, it won’t stop Orochimaru, his Sound ninja, and his Leaf spies from going after him.

Actually…

They probably won’t let Sasuke turn down the Chunin Exam, no matter what Kakashi wants.

Politics are riding on this exam, Konoha wants to flaunt its power, and Sasuke wants to enter.

He’ll be there even if Sakura’s not. It’ll just be a better showing with his actual teammates.

So then, how to go about it?

If they let things take their course, Sasuke will come out marked, but alive.

Not a good thing, he’ll be marked with a piece of Orochimaru’s soul. He might even betray-

He breaks his skewer in half.

No, that’s unacceptable.

He takes a breath and continues thinking.

They can’t face him head on; Orochimaru’s on a different level, not even the Third was able to put him down.

If they try to fight by themselves, they’ll lose, badly.

They’re going to need help.

“Oi, Akamaru, enough, leave Sakura alone already,” he says picking up the ninken.

Good job, he silently nods to his partner.

“As I was saying, the only thing I can think of is try to get your sensei to knock some sense into him.”

You’re going to have to go to Kakashi, he tells her.

Green eyes stare back in horror.

-*-

Sakura lets him know that she does not, in no way, shape, or form, want to tell Kakashi about reading a manga.

He tells her she’d be an idiot to.

Kakashi’s a paranoid bastard who’d think the worst if they tried to prove their claims with knowledge of the past or present.

No, what they need is tangible proof.

He knows just where to get some.

-*-

“You find them yet?” She whispers urgently.

He ignores her and keeps searching.

There are over a hundred genin entering, along with their jonin-sensei. (Most of the genin aren’t really genin)

Akamaru doesn’t know what he’s looking for and can’t help; he’s not sure even he can find it, in all honesty.

He doesn’t tell Sakura that.

Scent after scent assault him, and he filters out the smells of home.

It’s simply a matter of narrowing it down, he tells himself.

Foreign smells, he’s looking for scents new to Konoha.

The ones from Suna smell of sand, the ones from Ame smell of rain and wax, Taki smells like moss, and Kusa smells like bamboo and grass.

That’s not what he’s looking for; he’s trying to find-

Harsh chemicals and rice.

“Found them,” he tells her.

-*-

“It’ll be stupid and dangerous, it might not work,” he cautions, “and he will definitely know something’s up.”

“Something like this might even make everything _worse_. We’ve got no guarantee it’ll do anything but piss him off,” he stresses.

This is a shaky plan with a lot of risk.

“But this is this only way we can convince Kakashi-sensei, right?” She asks biting her lip.

“You didn’t give me much notice to think of something else,” he admits.

She stares at her hands.

She takes a breath and nods.

“Let’s do this, for Sasuke.”

He knows Sakura is strong, but this is asking her to lose a piece of herself.

Only thing is, she’ll lose more than a piece if Sasuke walks away.

“You’re absolutely sure you can do this?” He demands.

She steels herself.

Green eyes bore into his.

“I can do this.”

(Naruto and Sasuke are important to her, but the Uchiha has a special place in her heart; it makes him wonder)

 -*-

“Hey, Kin. Forget about your bells again, hmm?”

“Shut up, asshole.”

“Both of you shut up.”

“Come on, Dosu, I was just-”

“Cease the idle chatter.”

“Aw, fine,” Zaku says folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.

He follows the sound of Kin’s bells and Dosu’s irritated footsteps.

“You’re never any fun, hmm,” Zaku complains.

He opens his eyes and opens his mouth—

There’s no one around him.

“Kin? Dosu? Where’d you guys go?” He asks searching.

“If you guys left me again-” The Oto ninja starts threateningly.

“Hello.”

Zaku swivels around, arms up, only to come face to face with a pink-haired, little girl.

“The hell?” He mutters.

She’s smiling at him, arms behind her back. There’s a dog by her side.

“I’d say it was nice to meet you, but I’d be a terrible liar,” she chirps. “Want to meet my friend?”

Before the Sound ninja has time to understand what’s happening, he drops from his position in the tree overhead to deliver a fierce kick.

Zaku goes flying, face first, into the dirt.

“Where the hell did you come from?” The Oto ninja gets up snarling.

He growls from beside Sakura; Akamaru joins him.

“That doesn’t matter,” he utters. “What I want to know is: why are you going after Sasuke?”

“You were stalking him. Watching him confront Gaara,” Sakura asserts.

“So what if I was?” Zaku asks mockingly.

“Then I’m going to kick your ass,” he assures him.

“Pft, you think someone like you, can take on someone like me?” Zaku challenges.

“We’ve been trained by the best, you can’t take us,” Sakura boasts.

“Hah, that’s what you think, girl,” the Oto ninja says with scorn.

Sakura laughs.

“Unless you have someone like the Sannin in your pocket, you can’t take us,” she says confidently.

Time to bring it home, he thinks.

“We’d probably be shaking in our sandals if you did. Jiraiya and Tsunade? The best Konoha has,” he pauses, “but not Orochimaru. That guy’s just a dick-less  _bastard_.”

Hook, line, and—

“What did you just say?” Zaku asks dangerously.

 _Sinker_.

“I heard if you want to get taught by him, you’ll have to perform all kinds of nasty things. Heard he likes little boys the best,” Sakura says conspiringly.

He grins; she’s not wrong even if it is misconstrued.

“You little-” Zaku snarls.

“You’re much too old though. Someone like you wouldn’t work at all. Maybe if you used genjutsu?” She says tapping her lips.

It’s one insult too many; the Sound ninja lets out a scream.

“Oh that is _it_. You don’t get to talk about Lord Orochimaru that way!”

“Lord, huh? That sounds interesting, wouldn’t you say, Sakura?” He asks her with a smirk.

“Indeed it does, Kiba.” She says smiling.

“Almost like you’re his little _bitch,_ ” He taunts.

“You’re dead!” Zaku screams swinging his arms.

They jump back to avoid the rush of air; it’s a distraction because the Oto ninja spins, tossing small boxes all around them.

The Sound ninja brings up his arms and laughs.

“If you think you can call for help, forget about it.”

“What do you mean?” Sakura questions with a frown.

His eyes narrow as Akamaru whines; something’s being emitting from those tiny boxes.

It’s an irritating noise that seems to be echoing back the sounds, like a reverberation.

“Courtesy of Lord Orochimaru! No one can hear you scream if the sound can’t carry,” Zaku says grinning.

Oh, boy.

“You’re using sound as a makeshift silencing seal,” he says flatly.

“You’re not getting out of this alive,” Zaku threatens, “and when I’m finished I’ll give what’s left to your family.”

He doesn’t resist his urge to laugh; he laughs big and loud.

He can hear his own laughter thrown back, twisted and distorted.

His opponent messed up, big time.

“Oi, Akamaru, Sakura. Let’s show him the warm Konoha greeting,” he says with a smirk.

Sakura cracks her knuckles, and Akamaru lets out an excited growl.

This guy never stood a chance.

-*-

Zaku winds up on the ground with a senbon shoved into his neck; he’s paralyzed but able to speak.

Sakura glowers down at the Sound ninja; her precision is frightening.

“Don’t think you’re getting away with this, hmm.” The defeated ninja sneers, “My teammates have already realized something’s up. When they get here, you’re dead!”

“You’re unexpectedly good at genjutsu, Kiba,” Sakura compliments, ignoring the Oto ninja entirely.

“Unexpected? That hurts. I’m Kurenai-sensei’s star pupil,” he tells her.

“Kurenai-sensei must have had to beat it into your head,” she teases.

“Hey! Did you hear me? Once Kin and Dosu arrive, there’ll be nothing left!” Zaku screams from the ground.

He smirks down at the Sound ninja.

“Not if they think you’re getting in some last minute alone time,” he says mockingly.

“What?” He chokes.

“Oh, Kiba, _gross,_ ” Sakura says scrunching up her face.

It was a rushed plan, but—

All he needed was a Shadow Clone using the Transformation Technique, two low level genjutsu, and a minute.

(Kurenai-sensei will be proud if she ever realizes how much he retains from her genjutsu lessons)

Dosu and Kin are currently aggravated and chasing after Zaku’s trail in the opposite direction while Zaku’s trapped with them inside a sound barrier.

Akamaru is guarding the parameter mostly for the smell of snake.

He feels sluggish. His chakra is dangerously low, and he’s seriously considering using a soldier pill.

“There’s no one coming for you. You won’t be able to call for help,” he says derisively,

“No one will be able to hear you scream.”

He’s tired but there’s something he has to do.

“Now,” he says dangerously, “you’re going to tell me exactly why you’re going after Sasuke and what Orochimaru is to you.”

“Like I’ll tell you anything,” the Oto ninja hisses.

“We already know you have a connection to Orochimaru, and that your whole team has their sight on Sasuke. What are you trying to do? Kidnap him? _Kill_ _him_?” Sakura demands.

“Hah, you don’t know _anything,_ ” Zaku mocks.

“I don’t know,” he says, “I think your scent changed on that last one. Killing Sasuke is your goal then?”

“What are you, a dog?” The Sound ninja scoffs

He restrains himself from glaring down at their paralyzed enemy; why does everyone keep thinking that’s an insult?

“You want to kill him,” he states confidently.

“So what? So what if I want to kill a self-entitled brat?” Zaku sneers.

“Then we’ll stop you,” he declares.

The Sound ninja laughs.

“Even if we don’t kill the Uchiha brat, Lord Orochimaru will get him. He’ll keep going until your precious Uchiha is _dead_. You’ll get nothing from me,” Zaku spits.

He growls.

They need more than these petty words to change things up; they need confirmation that Orochimaru is here with the ninja of Suna.

This is not up for debate; Sasuke is Sakura’s precious teammate.

Sasuke is a fellow ninja of Konoha. Sasuke is a friend.

_Sasuke is his comrade unto death._

“Sakura?” He asks pleasantly, “How good are you with your chakra blades again?”

A dark look falls over her face.

“Good enough for surgery,” she answers back, fingers lighting up.

“Oh, well then,” he says, “how unlucky for you.”

He grins.

-*-

It takes longer than he’d like, but they get everything the Sound ninja knows.

They get the Sand and Sound alliance out of him.

How nice.

He’s really impressed; turns out Sakura and he are really good at working together.

Their skills in _questioning_ are rather good too.

-*-

He waits for her to finish throwing up before offering his jacket.

She’s covered in blood.

The smell is pungent, and he hates it. He thinks she hates it more.

When she’s got herself covered up, he motions to Akamaru, and the ninken quickly makes his way over to the pink-haired girl.

She latches onto the ninken; her hands are clean from keeping a steady chakra film over them.

Akamaru has nothing to do with their plan to save Sasuke; the ninken has nothing negative attached to him.

He can’t say the same for himself, so he keeps his distance.

Sakura has a distant look on her face, hands squeezing Akamaru roughly.

There’s something he needs to ask.

“Do you regret it?”

She looks him in the eye,

“No.”

-*-

They don’t have time for her to change. They have information and a still living body that needs to be dealt with.

Akamaru finds the familiar smell of stone, dogs, and protection.

They run as fast as they can, and find him just outside the Hokage Residence; the tower next to the first stage of the Chunin Exams.

-*-

Kakashi stills and looks over Sakura with a narrow eye.

The jonin smells the blood that is not her own; he knows because it’s absolutely wafting off of her.

“Kakashi-sensei, I-” Sakura chokes and looks down at her feet.

She’s about to break down, he realizes.

“We ran into some trouble,” he starts.

Kakashi’s stare is hard, and he doesn’t need to be a Yamanaka to figure out what’s going through the jonin’s mind.

He just hates to break it to the man; it’s far worse than that.

Cold-blooded torture isn’t remotely like self-defense, but he can’t say he feels guilty about it either.

He can’t protect them all the time, but he can damn well try.

“We’ve got something you need to hear,” he tells the man.

He wants to tell the man it’s S-class sensitive; that it’s important not to be overheard.

“Orochimaru is here, and he’s after Sasuke,” Sakura blurts out.

Kakashi stares down at her before grabbing her by the arm faster than he can blink.

He does blink, and they’re both gone.

He shares a look with Akamaru, baffled.

Then Kakashi’s suddenly there.

“You too,” the jonin says.

Kakashi grabs him around the middle, grabs Akamaru with his other hand, and speeds off.

Though it’s not as fast as the Body Flicker he subjected Sakura to, thank goodness.

-*-

“Kakashi tells me you have information on Orochimaru?”

The Third is a solemn face and even his scent speaks of tight-lidded emotions.

Sakura’s fidgets next him in the tense and heavy atmosphere.

She’s taking deep breaths, and he silently urges her to stay strong.

They got what they needed, but it was a heavy price.

He’ll go first to give her a few moments to get it together.

“It started when Sakura noticed three ninja from Oto observing Sasuke. That wasn’t so serious, but it kind of pissed me off, you know? So…”

He doesn’t lie; he doesn’t need to.

(Kurenai-sensei will probably give him hell later for doing something he shouldn’t.

She never seems to believe him when he says it’s not his fault.)

-*-

They’re not allowed to know what happens next; they’re just going to have to put their faith in the Third.

T&I has a body to get information out of, so there’s that; the Hokage doesn’t have a whole lot of time to implement a plan of action either.

Everything they know is picked apart—he’s sure he’s spent hours talking—and they almost don’t leave Intelligence in time.

They have ten minutes before the exams start.

Missing the first stage would anger two Noble Clans, one clan of hell raisers, and all the customers wanting to see the last Uchiha.

They run to the academy.

Sakura burns her shirt and keeps his jacket. This leaves him in his mesh undershirt.

It’s uncomfortable, but that’s insignificant compared to what Sakura’s feeling.

Akamaru reminds him to grab his headband off the jacket.

-*-

Sakura heads for her teammates, shaky but determined.

She doesn’t look back at him, and he doesn’t expect her too.

That doesn’t stop it from stinging.

-*-

“Oi, sorry for cutting it close,” he apologizes to Shino and Hinata, Akamaru at his heels.

Shino barely nods his acceptance and Hinata pokes her fingers together.

Hinata smells anxious, and Shino’s kikaichu are buzzing more than usual.

“Are you alright?” Hinata asks him worriedly.

He tilts his head in silent question.

“You are almost late and do not have your jacket. Why? Sakura’s wearing it, and she too is almost late. Neither of you are the type to 'cut it close' or value your teammates so little to be doing frivolous activities before such an event,” Shino states in his cold, concerned way.

He almost bursts out laughing; Akamaru has no such scruples.

Shino’s asking him, “You weren’t out having sex, so what did you do?” and Hinata’s giving him that, “Did you stab yourself again, do you need bandages?” look.

He loves his teammates; he really does.

“I’ll tell you the non-classified version later,” he tells them. “We’ve got to go.”

He walks forward, Akamaru by his side, and they follow.

He doesn’t know what’s going to happen. He doesn’t know if he’s done the right thing, or if Sakura will ever forgive him.

The important thing is—

He has no regrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to stick to official English names, but due to reading many, many different translations, I'll slip up every now and then. The Japanese and English village names will both be used, and I refuse to write anything other than Maito Gai.


	2. Mistakes are still made

The Chunin Exam begins almost as soon as they walk in the door.

He only has enough time to trade a dirty look with Kankuro and exchange worried ones with Sakura’s teammates.

They know something’s wrong; Sakura’s far too withdrawn to be normal.

(She’s quiet and huddling in his jacket; he misses it)

He blinks at the whole and grinning Zaku in the back of the classroom.

Before he can think more on it, the examiners arrive in a puff of smoke, and he knows this is going to be a long day.

-*-

They have forty-five minutes to answer nine questions by cheating.

There’s a chunin disguised as a genin next to him, he’s not worried.

(Don’t share a knowing glance with your friends when you’re supposed to be infiltrating)

-*-

He looks around and stifles the urge to scream.

A part of him was relieved to never sit at a desk again, to focus on the things that matter instead of a piece of paper.

Yet here he is, in school, taking a test he doesn’t know the answers to, surrounded by hostile enemies, and adults watching with eager eyes for him to screw up.

It feels like he never left his previous life.

Luckily, Akamaru is here to keep him grounded.

Well, that, and give him all the answers to the test.

Akamaru growls softly from atop his head and no one but those familiar with Inuzuka ninken would realize the dog is reading and relaying information.

Actually, he’s not sure most of the Konoha ninja here even realize Inuzuka ninken are able to read, but all clans have their secrets.

He knows he could have gotten more creative with his cheating methods, but he’s never been one to go above and beyond without a certain someone to push him.

Said someone is refusing to acknowledge him, and if he wasn’t so damn tired he’d probably be more concerned about that.

He writes the absurdly long answer to question number four before putting his pencil down, flipping the paper over, and easing his head into his arms.

Akamaru shifts to curl up into his neck.

He ignores the pointed stare and scraping of a pencil and lets his eyes shut.

This first stage is nothing but a fear tactic, and he’d rather get some rest before the real test begins.

-*-

He dreams of his own warped laughter and a pond of blood with skin floating in it.

Sakura is there crying her own tears of blood.

It’s not the best sleep he’s had, but it’s still not the worst.

-*-

“Hey, I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”

Akamaru gives him a tiny tap, and he cracks his eyes open reluctantly.

It’s about time, and he wouldn’t put it past Ibiki to count sleeping through the tenth question as a failure.

Akamaru jumps down to the desk, so he can sit up. Considering how tired he is, it’s much harder than it sounds.

He has no doubt he’ll need to use his soldier pills for the second stage. He hopes Shino and Hinata won’t realize how bad off he is.

-*-

He sort of lets it all wash over him, the panic, the fear, Naruto’s grating voice.

It’s all background music to him at this point.

“Congratulations on passing the first test, to the 84 that remain.”

The jubilation, the relief, Ibiki’s life lessons, it’s all a blur.

Everything but—

_CRASH_

“Alright, this is no time to be celebrating!”

—that.

-*-

The test is over, and they’re supposed to be following Mitarashi Anko to the forty-fourth training ground.

It takes a lot of effort on his part to pretend there’s nothing wrong; he can’t afford to let the sharks smell the blood in the water.

(There’s so much in a body, who knew)

He’s lucky that Shino and Hinata aren’t saying a word. They’re on either side of him, casually shielding him from the other exam-takers.

It was futile to hope they wouldn’t notice anything.

He concentrates on following Akamaru and tries not to think about the hint of snake that’s been hanging in the air.

There’s a lot of things he doesn’t think about: Zaku, Sakura, Sasuke, Gaara, immediate survival.

He’s done what he could; there’s nothing more for him to do.

He just needs to concentrate on getting through the second stage.

(He wonders if he’s lying to himself)

-*-

The Forest of Death is eerie in a way that is almost indescribable. There’s its terrifying presence and the knowledge of what’s in there.

There’s the name itself, and the fact it feels like a lot of blood has been spilt underneath the trees.

What a lot of people don’t say is that while there are monsters inside, bigger monsters enter the forest with human faces.

-*-

Naruto shoots off at the mouth, and Anko does her scare tactic that gets interrupted.

He can hear Sakura taking shallow breaths, and it worries him.

The remaining teams are taking the moment to quietly size each other up; a freaked out, rookie genin makes for an appealing target.

He sidles on over to her, making sure to place a least a foot between them. Akamaru stays by his heels.

“Oi, Sakura,” he calls.

She flinches.

“Kiba,” she acknowledges, twisting the cuffs of his jacket.

Akamaru remains quiet, and Sakura makes no move to greet him.

They don’t say anything for what feels like a long time.

“After this is over, do you want your jacket back?” She finally says.

“Keep it. I’ve got more,” he lies.

“But-”

“It’s fine,” he reassures.

“You spent a lot on it!” She argues.

“Sakura, give me my jacket back, and I’ll call your father, 'Dad',” He says flatly.

“Um, yeah, okay then. It’s a nice lovely jacket for my closet then,” she says, face twisting.

He doesn’t say anything else.

“You be careful, okay?” She says quietly.

She hasn’t looked at him this whole time. He deserves it; he knows he does.

“Same to you,” he tells her.

He avoids looking at Naruto and Sasuke who are not being discreet in their staring.

Maybe Sakura can’t look at him, but she’s talking to him.

Progress.

-*-

“Kiba.”

He can’t believe he said something so stupid. “Give me my jacket back, and I’ll call your father, Dad?” What does that even mean?

“Kiba.”

Sure, he doesn’t have much of a filter, but he’s usually not this brain-dead. Did he just hit on Sakura or did he make a nonsensical joke? He’s not sure.

“ _Kiba._ ”

He focuses on Hinata’s blank gaze.

“Oi, I heard you the first time, Hinata,” he says mulishly.

He misses the concerned glance between Shino and Hinata. He’s too busy trying to figure out why his brain is being stupid.

“You aren’t helping, Akamaru,” he tells the ninken who’s supposed to be keeping him on track.

Help with what, Akamaru barks questioningly.

“I do not think you are up to this,” Shino informs him solemnly.

He narrows his eyes at the bug-user.

“I’m fine,” he tells him.

It’s the truth, sort of.

“I do not think so. Why? You are having a more difficult time focusing, which is significant considering your normal behavior. Hinata has tried speaking to you several times in which you have yet to answer her. Furthermore-“

“Stop, stop. I get it,” he says running a hand over his face.

He’s not fine, not at all. He’s tired, somewhat hungry, and his mind is getting foggy.

“I don’t, ah. I don’t have a whole lot of chakra,” he mutters quietly.

There is silence, and he knows exactly what Shino is about to say.

“If that is the case, unless there is an adequate reason for completing the Chunin Exam, there is no reason to continue. Why? Because you will become a liability for Team 8. Your current form will endanger your teammates who will be counterbalancing your weakened state.”

He winces.

“I know that, but I can’t quit now. I just—can’t.”

He doesn’t know how to tell the truth without telling them the truth. He’s only an excellent liar if he isn’t lying.

He doesn’t usually have problems figuring out what to say.

“I’ll forfeit if you’re worried about what others will think,” Hinata says with eyes lowered. “No one would question it if I did it.”

Akamaru head-butts him, and he knows this situation is getting out of control.

“Don’t speak like that, no one’s forfeiting!” He barks before going silent in contemplation.

It’s not that he wants to keep fighting in this state, but…

He grimaces.

“There is a very good reason we have to keep going,” he begins. “Aside from the fact you guys deserve the chance at promotion, there’s something I want to keep my eye on. Something really important.”

He’s come too far to back out now. His team is important to him, but so is Team 7.

He doesn’t say anything and lets Shino and Hinata come to some form of agreement.

Ultimately, no matter what he wants, the decision rests in their hands. He might not be happy about it, but he’ll follow their lead.

Shino lets out what could be a sigh.

“Very well. We shall proceed. Why? Because we will pass the Second test. You will remain in the center of the formation. As we do not know if we will be in the forest for the full five days, use the solider pill in your pouch only when needed,” the Aburame orders.

Shino glares at him, and Hinata looks worried. Akamaru gives him a sympathetic bark, and tells him the ninken will pick up his slack.

They sign the waivers and line up to receive their scrolls. Gate 16 is their starting point.

Plan protect Team 7 is a go.

Even though they’re currently on the outs, he can still look after Sakura. He feels nothing but relief.

(He’s not relieved at all)

-*-

Shino comes up with a plan while waiting outside their designated gate. It’s one he can agree with.

Hit hard, hit fast, and get to the tower immediately.

Shino will be hanging onto their Heaven Scroll; he’s least likely to get into close combat.

Hinata will use her Byakugan to search for a team with an Earth Scroll, and Shino will wear them down with kikaichu the moment they pick their target.

He’s to use a soldier pill the moment they begin to gun for the other team and lead the frontal assault.

Akamaru will be doing most of the tracking, and he has no doubt Team 8 can find the center tower without any problems.

-*-

The time comes, and they enter the gate.

The air is tense and completely silent.

He’s sure they’re already surrounded, predators watching them through the foliage of the trees.

Shino and Hinata are more than capable of taking the local wildlife.

What’s making him tense are the looks his teammates keep giving him.

Hinata’s just worried, but Shino is giving him that stare; the one that says, “You’re an unintelligent, asinine annoyance.”

He’s very expressive once you get to know him.

It’s making his skin itch.

Akamaru, who can read him better than anyone, gives him something to do to distract him.

“Akamaru says the closest teams near us are from Kusa and Konoha,” he informs them.

Akamaru tells him the smell of snake and deceit are coming from the Kusa team.

It makes his blood run cold.

“He also says there’s something not right about the Kusa team,” he warns. “Do not engage them.”

They contemplate their situation.

“It wouldn’t be right to attack a Konoha team,” Hinata says firmly.

He doesn’t actually care about taking a scroll from a Konoha team, survival of the fittest and all that, but he’s not about to mention that to Shino and Hinata.

“Passed them are another team from Kusa and a team from Ame,” he translates for Akamaru.

“How far are they?” Shino wants to know.

He has to wait on Akamaru.

“The other Kusa team is right next to the ones we want to avoid,” he says.

Akamaru tells him he might want to avoid the Ame group. They’ve warped their scents with some kind of water.

He considers it.

“Our best option is the Ame one next to the hopefully friendlier guys. It shouldn’t take but twenty minutes east,” he states.

Akamaru’s pretty sure the Konoha one isn’t Kabuto’s group, and he’s not about to put his team in Orochimaru’s way.

Shino takes a moment to consider it while Hinata elects to keep her opinions to herself.

“Our potential target will be the Rain,” Shino finally says.

-*-

Akamaru leads them around the nearby Konoha genin and seems to be getting a little nervous.

He understands; he can’t smell Sakura either.

He can’t risk extending his senses, but part of him still thinks he should be able to smell her anyway.

It’s making him uneasy, being unable to pick up Team 7’s scent.

He tells Akamaru to stay silent and on track.

(He tries telling himself that too)

-*-

Hinata’s in front, Byakugan activated.

She holds up a hand, signs, “Yes,” before holding up one finger.

She’s confirmed their target as the ones Akamaru’s been tracking, and they have the correct scroll.

It’s one finger for an Earth Scroll, two for a Heaven Scroll.

Unfortunately, now that he’s closer to them, he recognizes these odors.

It’s the same Rain team that he ran into before.

Akamaru tried to warn him when they were closing in, but he hadn’t listened. He’d been too busy trying to stay focused.

He almost tells his teammates to pick a different target.

But between Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Gaara running around, well, he’ll take the Rain ninja.

It’ll be fine, he tells himself.

He doesn’t remember any ninja from Ame giving Konoha any trouble during the Chunin Exams. If they stick to Shino’s plan, they’ll have no problems.

-*-

They follow them for hours.

The Rain ninja move in odd patterns, passing up teams left and right. They almost appear to be searching for something.

Shino’s kikaichu are stopped by a fog that also happens to skew their odors; it’s emitted each time they camp.

And those Rain ninja? They camp a lot.

It’s enough to make him suspicious.

He thinks maybe they’ve already been found out, but they’ve wasted a lot of time following these bastards.

He’s getting their Earth Scroll whether they like it or not.

-*-

They make camp not too far from the Rain ninja. No fires or beds are made; it’s simply a place to rest and eat terrible field rations.

He’s never felt more tired in his life.

Hinata’s resting with Akamaru in her lap, both on alert in case of a surprise attack.

He’s trying not to fall asleep, and Shino keeps glaring at him.

The Aburame’s been glowering at him since they entered the forest.

It’s making him twitchy.

“If you have a problem with me, spit it out already,” he growls out.

“Nothing more than the usual,” Shino simply says.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asks, eyes narrowing.

“U-Um, please don’t-” Hinata tries to interject.

He barely hears her; his eyes are solely on the Aburame in front of him.

He waits for an answer, but Shino doesn’t bother to respond. He feels irritation shoot through him.

He’s had enough of the condescending attitude.

“What do you want from me?” He asks angrily.

“What I want is irrelevant,” Shino says irritably. “Team 8 requires your full attention and commitment. I cannot work at full proficiency with you. Why? Because you are distracted and placing the interests of a different team above your own.”

Did he just say what he thinks he said?

“I am _not_ putting Team 7 above Team 8!” He bites back.

He’s been doing his best to keep both teams alive; how dare he say otherwise.

Anger burns inside his chest. Shino’s aggressive stance does nothing but fuel the flames.

“Are you not looking for them at this very moment?” Shino asks acidly.

It’s not a fair question; it’s not a fair situation.

He’s had enough of being cornered.

“So what if I am? So what if I have other people I worry about? You think I’m just going to ditch them because you said so?” He growls.

He pushes himself up past Hinata, who has frozen up, and gets right into Shino’s face.

“They’re my friends and I can’t forget them, not like you.” He says cruelly, “I bet everyone always forgets someone like you. You’re just the bug boy in the corner.”

 “I actually enjoy hanging out with them. They’re fun and interesting!” He yells furiously. “They’re a hell of a lot more interesting than you!”

-*-

He waits.

He waits and he feels far more than he has since the day began.

Come on, move, he silently demands.

Attack me, drain what little chakra I have left, he thinks.

Everything has faded away, and the only thing he sees is the Aburame. The annoying buzz, the condescending posture, and that terrible, constantly moving scent of his.

He wants to tear it to pieces.

(The Inuzuka have always had problems with kikaichu, and he has never understood it more)

-*-

He doesn’t notice the smell in time.

Hinata pushes him down, and Shino jumps back. Akamaru follows Hinata’s movements. They dodge the boiling water, and then they avoid the shuriken that come after.

With a sinking feeling, he realizes he’s been too loud. He’s alerted their targets to their presence.

They’ve become ensnared in a surprise attack, and the ambushers are now being ambushed.

Akamaru is at his side in an instant, and he fumbles for his Soldier Pills.

He watches in disbelief as his medicine pouch is torn out of his hands by a well-aimed kunai.

“Kiba!” Hinata warns.

He’s ashamed to say he barely manages to avoid the next kunai, the weapon nicking his hand.

Team 8 falls back and reorients themselves. Shino and Hinata are on either side of him; Akamaru’s in front, ready to attack.

He tries to remain calm, but he can feel a sense of panic lying in wait.

He’s useless without a soldier pill.

His medicine pouch is somewhere over in the bushes, and Sis said she’d sewn two special-made pills into his clothes.

He doesn’t remember where, and with his luck, both of them are probably in his jacket.

Only two members of the Ame team face them: the tall boy with the water tank, Yasuhiro, and the shorter one with the umbrella, Shinta.

“Look what we’ve got here!” Shinta exclaims.

“Eyes: White. Pupils: Blank. Clan symbol on shoulder: Hyuuga. This girl: valuable,” Yasuhiro monotones.

“Guess we know who to keep alive then.” Shinta says threateningly.

He bares his teeth, and Akamaru growls loud enough for the both of them.

Despite all their bravado, he’s confident they can take them. The real one to be wary of is the girl, Takara.

“Their leader, I can’t find her,” he murmurs to his teammates.

Akamaru isn’t picking up anything either, which is distressing, but buys them time.

“Disable and retreat,” Shino says quietly.

“Stay behind me,” Hinata whispers to him.

It galls him, but he moves closer to Hinata.

The enemy makes the first move; Yasuhiro makes a hand seal and the water in his tank turns red.

Akamaru barks out a warning. He follows Hinata, and they move just in time.

A spike of red water strikes where they used to be.

The ground withers where it’s been hit; it looks like the vegetation’s been killed by extreme heat.

He casts an anxious eye towards Shino and finds the bug-user facing down Shinta.

The stockier Rain ninja slides into a fist fighter’s stance, smugness rolling off of his form.

Shino’ll be fine, he decides.

He eyes his own opponent. Yasuhiro’s preparing to use his move again, but there’s something off.

He thinks he sees a potential weakness.

He jumps out of the way, red spike coming uncomfortably close to him, and watches the boy’s tank.

It’s as he thought.

“See his tank? His move uses up a lot of water, we need to make him waste it,” he hisses to Hinata.

She gives him a shallow nod and throws herself out of the way of another spike.

She surprises him by throwing out a palm and striking the water as it passes her.

The spike splashes away, and he thinks he sees a glint in her blank eyes.

“Stay behind me,” she repeats. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t get anywhere near you.”

-*-

Akamaru’s distracting Yasuhiro up close, and he’s distracting by throwing kunai.

Hinata’s currently being the best damn shield he’s ever seen.

He’s pulling out another weapon when he’s sent flying into the dirt.

“It appears I can’t trust my underlings with anything,” a voice coldly states.

He feels his breath hitch as he looks up into the stony eyes of Takara.

She holds herself in an aggressive stance, umbrella held firmly in a two-hand grip. She makes no move towards him.

“If you tell me where the Uchiha is, I will let you and the Aburame go,” she discloses.

They’re serious about taking Hinata alive, he realizes, and she’s after Sasuke.

“Like hell,” he tells her.

He aims at her with Passing Fang, only to have to break it mid-stride due to a sharp pain in his stomach.

He doesn’t even have time to think before he’s batted against a tree.

Takara’s standing over him, and he’s never felt more helpless.

“I’ll get my answers from the Hyuuga then,” she promises, pulling out a handful of shuriken.

Akamaru rushes her, chomping down onto her arm.

Takara lets out a shriek, the ninken’s teeth going through the underside of the armor.

She drops the shurikens and attempts to slice Akamaru with edge of her umbrella, but the ninken doesn’t let go.

He’s dazed and straining to get up when she begins spinning.

Akamaru can’t hold on and releases her. Takara delivers a fierce kick to the ninken, and he goes flying with a yelp.

“Akamaru!” He screams.

He rushes for his partner only to get thrown back.

“Out of all the Konoha ninja I could have fought, you are by far the weakest,” Takara sneers twirling the umbrella.

He struggles to his feet and extends his senses to locate his partner.

He can’t find him.

“To think a whole clan is so weak they need to rely on animals to fight,” she scoffs.

“You don’t know anything,” he growls, still desperately searching for Akamaru.

Her eyes narrow, and the next words out of the Rain ninja’s mouth stop him cold.

“I know the future,” she tells him. “I know your future.”

“You will lose to one Uzumaki Naruto. Your arrogance will be your downfall. And your teammate, Hyuuga Hinata, she will-”

“Stop!” He shouts, swinging a fist.

He’s slow and clumsy; she dances out of the way, and smacks him to the ground.

“You know nothing,” he spits.

That future won’t exist if he has anything to say about it.

“I think it is you who know nothing,” she informs him sardonically.

“You know nothing of Pain, or the true face of war,” she states.

She spins her umbrella, and it begins to rain.

A drop lands on his face, and it _burns_.

Water pours down, and it hurts, it hurts so much.

“These are my tears, my Tears of War,” she informs him.

He’s howling in agony, and the acidic rain drenches him.

When he thinks he can’t take it anymore, it suddenly stops.

He blinks and looks up. An umbrella?

He looks closer and realizes it’s a canopy made up entirely of bugs.

“I am your opponent,” Shino intones, glasses shining ominously.

The bug-user stands beside him, hands in pockets, somehow utterly intimidating.

“Another so-called ninja relying on others to fight his battles for him. You won’t win against me,” Takara says grimly.

“Regroup,” Shino tells him, before bolting after Takara.

He doesn’t bother wasting time; he needs to find Akamaru.

-*-

He finds the ninken at the base of a tree.

Akamaru’s only been knocked out.

He hides them in the trees while trying to revive the ninken.

It’s hard to do without a medicine pouch, but Akamaru manages to come to.

-*-

Hinata’s holding the line against both Shinta and Yasuhiro. She’s doing an admirable job, but he can tell she’s faltering quickly.

It takes everything he has not to rush over to her.

Shino’s playing a warped game of tag with Takara, but the Aburame can’t last forever.

He knows what he needs to do.

“I’m going to lead her away from here. Stick with Shino and Hinata,” he tells Akamaru, completely serious.

The ninken tells him not to be stupid.

“You need to go with them. I need you to make sure they get out of this alive. _Please,_ ” He begs.

What about you, Akamaru growls.

“I’m not about to leave you for good. I won’t die, I promise. I just-I can’t let this be my fault. I can’t let their deaths be my fault.”

It’s taking too much time, he needs to get out there.

He needs to do something, anything.

“You’re the only one who knows what’s going on, Akamaru. I’m going to go, and I trust you.”

He leaps to another tree, jumps down from the branches, and aims a kick towards Takara.

It misses, of course.  

-*-

“You should accept your fate, you’ll never become Hokage, let alone win against me,” she says assuredly.

He knows she’s trying to mess with him psychologically, but it doesn’t have much of an effect; he’s never wanted to be Hokage, not now, not ever.

Naruto’s got that unenviable position cornered anyways.

“Like hell I’d become Hokage,” he sneers, “but if I did, my first order would be to wipe out those backward hicks from Ame.”

She bristles, but it’s not enough to get her chasing him. He knows he’s going to have try a different angle.

Now what would offend a strong, capable leader such as herself?

“I’m sure it’d do the world a favor to see your village wiped out,” he states and hears her snarl. “After all, I’ve heard that Ame traditions are enough to make even Kiri blush.”

He pauses as if to consider something.

“So maybe you’re only the leader because you’re a girl,” he says.

There it is. He sees her stiffen slightly and knows he’s hit the right nerve.

“The team leader’s a girl. I can guess why,” he says musingly.

He knows his next words will be the instigator.  

“You know the phrase 'Bitch in heat'?” He asks mockingly.

He almost doesn’t duck in time.

He runs and doesn’t look back. Sheer instinct allows him to dance out of the way of her umbrella.

He continues to yell more sexist insults over his shoulder. It keeps both her and her aim unbalanced.

He twists around trees and slides under fallen limbs. He trips at least twice, but he somehow manages to keep from getting hit.

When they’ve gotten to a good enough distance, he pivots and throws a kunai, forcing her to be the one to dodge for once.

He’s exhausted, all he wants to do is lie down and go to sleep.

If he does that, he’s dead for sure.

The enraged ninja is sizing him up, undoubtedly seeing an incredibly stupid ninja that can’t put up too much of a fight.

He has news for her: he might not make it out alive, but he’s not going to make it easy.

He takes out the soldier pill hidden in the inside of his headband and crunches down before she can react.

The effect is almost instantaneous.

Energy rushes into his very coils, and he grins.

“Ready?”

-*-

Soldier pills have a special place for the Inuzuka.

No one knows if it’s due to genetics, or a bizarre accident, but they work slightly differently for the clan than anyone else.

No long-term side effects for one.

Secondly, they give a greater boost with less kickback.

More importantly, the pills strengthen their physical chakra far more than the average.

The only reason the Inuzuka don’t use them for everything is they still suffer the crashing afterwards.

And Inuzuka? They don’t handle being unable to move very well.

-*-

He feels rejuvenated; his chakra is back and better than ever.

He doesn’t waste time. He uses Passing Fang to force her into the trees, and follows after.

Akamaru may not be with him, but that doesn’t make the technique any less dangerous.

She heads for another branch, and he’s there almost the moment she lands.

She swears and throws a shuriken while jumping again to another branch.

Passing Fang deflects it, and he’s tearing up tree limbs after tree limbs.

He can smell her panic; it makes him grin. He’s no longer the one feeling outmatched, and he revels in the sensation.

He’s too busy losing himself to exhilaration to realize she’s leading him somewhere.

All he cares about is ripping her to pieces. He won’t forgive her for going after Hinata and Sasuke.

They play a game of cat and mouse. Unfortunately, she keeps making hard turns, and he has to stop every so often to correct his path.

She figures out his pattern quickly and lands close to him the moment he cancels the technique.

She takes a swipe at him, and he ducks making sure to land a good kick to her midriff.

She curses at him, and he grins.

“Where is the Uchiha?” She demands, swinging her umbrella.

He dodges her swings, and bares his teeth to her.

“Why? Have a problem with him?” He asks.

“Tell me where the Uchiha is. I won’t ask again,” she tells him icily.

“Well, now. How can I tell you if you won’t give me a first name?” He banters.

He throws a punch and hits her armor. The spikes on her umbrella scratch him on the face.

“There are only two Uchiha, and the one who must die is taking this exam,” she says.

Only two? Doesn’t she realize…?

Something’s not adding up.

“Tell me where Uchiha Sasuke is!” She shrieks, striking him in the forehead.

He falls to the ground with a grunt, and rolls out of way when she follows up with a downward strike.

His headband would’ve caught that had he been wearing it standard, he thinks ruefully.

“I think,” he says carefully, “that you’re completely insane. Do you realize?”

He does not expect her to break out into laughter.

“You’re a moron, do you know that?” She sneers. “Look where we are.”

It only hits him now, how very close they are to the river running through the Forest of Death.

The forest clears away to the embankment, and the water is at his back.

He looks around warily and understands he’s been cornered.

“You’ve led me to the river, why?” He asks.

She doesn’t answer him right away.

“Did you know that in Ame, it perpetually rains? Did you know that we hardly ever see the sun?” She finally inquires.

“I decided long ago, that I would honor that which we give our lives for. My tears, my comrade’s tears, the rain, my god—they are my strength,” she tells him, eyes hard. “Sadly for you, so is this water.”

She flies through hand seals, and he leaps out of the way.

It’s not enough.

The river behind him roars, and before he can understand what’s going on, he’s being consumed.

Water is rushing down his throat; it’s filling him up in a way he can’t breathe.

Air, he needs air.

Takara stands in front of him, hand seal unmoving and eyes cold.

His vision is disappearing, and his lungs hurt.

“Give me the Uchiha, and I’ll make it stop,” she tells him.

He wants to know how she expects him to answer.

Akamaru, he thinks weakly.

As if his partner can hear his thoughts, there is a scream, and the water falls away.

Akamaru is biting her legs, and he’s left sputtering for air.

The ninken is covered in blood; Akamaru is as red as his name and angry beyond belief.

It buys him time, but eventually the Rain ninja will get her bearings and attempt to end Akamaru for good.

Like _hell_ he’ll let that happen.

“Akamaru, time to get a little redder!” He shouts throwing his remaining soldier pill towards the ninken.

Akamaru wastes no time and crunches down faster than Takara has time to react.

He sees the ninken puff up, chakra almost cackling off of him. They’ve done this a thousand times before, but it’s still a sight to see.

He bares his fangs at the startled Rain ninja and folds his hand into a seal.

“Double-Headed Wolf!”

She doesn’t stand a chance.

-*-

They can hear everything fleeing, they smell the wariness of other teams who wonder if they should leave or investigate.

They left this move as a last resort; due to their size and sheer presence, they’ve just announced themselves to everything in the forest.

Right now, they are okay with this.

The enemy jumps away from them, retreating from them.

They don’t let her.

They spin and she barely manages to dodge. They snarl.

She spins her umbrella, rain falls from the sky.

They remember how painful that was, but it can only hurt what it lands on.

Their spins deflect the water droplets, and they aim for her again.

Trees fall under their onslaught, but they barely pay attention to it.

The only thing they want at this moment is to tear the enemy to pieces.

The forest comes down around them, and the girl still manages to evade them.

She’s getting slower, and her jutsu are being slapped aside.

They howl and she freezes; they bring a paw down, and she is trapped.

They bring their teeth down, and she throws her hands up in desperation.

-*-

They realize too late they’ve been caught in a genjutsu.

-*-

_“I don’t think he’s telling us everything. What about you, Sakura?”_

_“Why, no I don’t, Kiba. Maybe if I just twist this a little more?”_

_Blood, his own warped laughter, Sakura’s lips smiling as her face is covered in blood—_

He feels his mind falter, and suddenly he is no longer they.

It’s enough to severe them.

It’s not a feeling he can describe, to be so connected with the other part of yourself, only to fall away.

He and Akamaru separate, and he knows he’s failed yet again.

He lands roughly on his back. He doesn’t see what happens to Akamaru.

He tries to stand and doesn’t even manage to shift his arms.

He’s so tired; he can’t move any part of him.

(That’s not right, what happened to energy for three days)

Takara stands above him now, frazzled and eyes wild.

She stares at him as if waiting for him to jump up and declare, “Ambush!”

She needn’t worry. He’s done. He’s tried his best and failed.

The only thing he can do at this moment is stall. He doesn’t know if he wants to even try.

Taking the chance, Takara slides a sword from her spiked umbrella.

She snaps the sword to her side, and he knows it’s about to bury itself into his neck.

He’s ready, he thinks. He’s ready to stop feeling so tired.

But there’s one thing he’s got to know.

It’s been bugging him, what was once so meticulously etched onto her rebreather.

He’s got a good view of it now. He knows without a doubt he’s seen it before.

He looks into her eyes and wonders if they will be the last thing he sees.

(He thinks of green eyes, filled with tears)

“I’ve woken up, now I must go back to sleep,” he states, eyes not wavering from hers.

Her sword halts just shy of his neck. He can feel a slight sting and knows she has drawn blood.

“Where did you hear that?” She grits out, rebreather making it far more menacing.

“Your mask had a picture of a sleeping cat on it before you scratched it out,” he states confidently, pieces falling together.

“What do you know?” She growls.

“You’re after Sasuke, you know things you shouldn’t,” he rambles on, everything leading to one final thought.

“Tell me!” She shouts.

He knows. He knows without a doubt.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he says calmly.

He sees her eyes widen, but he has news for her. He’s not done.

“You shouldn’t be here, but you don’t know _why_. You know things, but _you don’t know things_.”

He watches her for tells and can feel the blade start digging into his neck.

“You’re working for someone who knows how the story is supposed to go. You’re working for someone who doesn’t like the ending. You’re working for someone who is scared of Sasuke because _they know what he can become._ ”

The silence is thick, and he wonders if he is to take this knowledge to his grave.

He should have told her, he thinks.

“I don’t care,” Takara starts voice heavy, “about your damn story or your damn peace. All I care about is my village and my god. My people and our savior of the Rain.”

Her eyes light up with a fervor that is entrancing as it is terrifying.

“Once I did. Once I believed in, 'Preserve the story, preserve the future', but those days are over. I was a naïve girl listening to a so called prophet. Now—now I know better. That prophet was wrong, there was never a future set in stone. And if it continues, my god, my Pain, will die for your sins.”

“How will killing Sasuke stop your god from dying?” He wants to know.

“They tried to hide it from me, but I heard them. All our pain comes from the Uchiha. The wars, the death—he will take away our only chance of happiness, he and his eyes,” she replies.

He feels her take the blade away, but he knows it is not out of mercy.

“You were not supposed to die this day, but I am here to keep that future from passing. Your death will be one of the permanent changes needed.”

She lifts the blade, arm straight, and he knows she is going to behead him.

He’s not ready after all, he realizes.

Forgive me, Akamaru, he thinks.

Forgive me, Sakura, is his next thought.

And then—

She screams and drops the sword.

Takara’s gripping her right arm and jumping backwards.

The leaves rustle and he snaps his eyes above him.

He knows that silhouette anywhere.

“Did you think I would let you kill my teammate in front of me?” Shino asks, voice low and dangerous.

The world has faded to green for him, yet the Aburame seems to stand out crisp and clear.

“Did you think I would let you live?” Shino asks menacingly.

The Rain ninja screams and rushes him with the sword in her left hand. Her right arm is useless, and he thinks he sees dead bugs clinging to it.

He feels like he’s crashing. The world is getting hazy, but he refuses to let it slip away.

She’s next to the bug-user in an instant, sword cutting through flesh quicker than he can follow.

If she had actually known anything, then she would have realized the futility of such an attack.

Shino bursts into hundreds and hundreds of chakra-stealing bugs; bugs that aim straight for her.

She jumps down from the branch, dodging most of the clone’s kikaichu that are trying to overwhelm her and lands too close to him.

His prone figure is easy pickings for someone whose main desire is to kill.

He sees the blade coming and holds his breath.

He trusts his teammates with everything he has. Shino wouldn’t have herded the enemy to him unless it was for a reason.

Takara doesn’t even have time to get the sword near him before it’s knocked out of her hands.

“Get away!” Hinata cries before thrusting a palm forward.

The Rain ninja dodges the strike, but he can hear her choking. Her good arm clenches at her stomach, and he knows the Hyuuga hit her mark.

“Where?” He can hear her gasp out.

He can sympathize because he, too, would like to know where his teammates came from. Hinata’s standing over him protectively—somehow he missed her completely—and he has no idea where the real Shino is.

It feels like he’s forgetting—where’s Akamaru?

He can feel panic hitting him in the chest.

He can’t move, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. He needs to know where his partner is.

“Stay,” Hinata whispers down to him.

It takes everything he has not to bare his fangs in petulance, but he quits his wriggling.

His teammates wouldn’t have let anything happen to the ninken; Akamaru’s fine. He has to be.

He forces himself to relax and concentrates on staying conscious. Shino and Hinata’s got this, he tells himself.

“You wish to see your god alive? That’s too bad,” Shino says suddenly and darkly from beside him. “The only god you are about to see is the god of death.”

He flinches.

How much did his teammates hear? He hopes Shino and Hinata don’t have too many questions once this is all over.

It’s giving him a headache.

(That might just be from where she kicked him earlier though)

“I won’t be robbed—I can’t die here! I will find the Uchiha!” She shouts, desperation rolling off of her.

She’s trying to rally herself, but Hinata’s next words stop the Rain ninja cold.

“You’ve already failed. Sasuke was never even here,” The Hyuuga says quietly but fiercely.

He blinks as he comprehends Hinata’s words.

Sasuke’s not here.

The Uchiha, and by extension Sakura and Naruto, aren’t in any trouble. Team 7 isn’t in any danger.

That’s because Team 7 was never here to begin with.

He couldn’t sense Sakura, not because he was that tired, but because she had never stepped foot into the forest.

And if he asked Hinata at the very start who would have been able to see Team 7 slipping away…

Well, shit. He messed up. There had never been a reason to come this far, no reason to endanger everyone.

“You’re lying! You-you bitch!” Takara wheezes.

The Rain ninja looks ready to bolt. He can’t gather the energy to care.

He’s messed up in so many different ways.

“What’s going on here?” A familiar voice booms.

“Shinta!” Takara says in relief.

Takara’s teammate emerges from the bushes. The Rain ninja doesn’t even look bruised.

He has every bit of confidence in his teammates, but that doesn’t mean he wants them to get hurt for his mistakes.

His attempts to push himself up fail, and he gives up.

“So it’s these freaks then?”

The Rain ninja eyes them with contempt before reaching for the umbrella on his back.

“Force them to keep their distance, and get a fog going,” Takara orders, right arm still swinging uselessly.

She places herself in a defensive stance in front of Shinta, trusting her back to her teammate.

“Where’s Yasuhiro?” She calls over her shoulder to the shorter boy.

“Yasuhiro, he’s—” Shinta begins.

She’s glowering at Team 8 when the last thing he expects to happen, happens.

“W-What?” Takara chokes out.

“—dead,” Shinta finishes with a grim look.

There’s a kunai buried into her back, and Takara is wide-eyed and frozen.

“This is for trying to hurt my friends,” Shinta snarls, pulling the kunai out only to jam it into the back of her head.

Takara screams and dies, body never moving. The corpse drops as if cut from strings.

He doesn’t understand what’s going on.

“Exit now, Ino. I will take care of her remaining teammate,” Shino informs the traitorous Rain ninja.

Ino? Everything’s starting to make sense—actually, no, nothing makes sense at all.

When did Ino get here?

“Shikamaru’s going to freeze me before I leave. You’ll only have about three seconds,” Ino, still possessing Shinta, warns.

“Understood,” Shino replies.

Hinata doesn’t leave her defensive stance over him, and Shino takes out a shuriken.

Shinta goes stiff, neck raised and exposed. The Rain ninja’s eyes fill with hatred, and he knows Ino is no longer there.

Shino’s throw is flawless.

Two bodies now lie on the forest floor, and all he can think about is-

“Akamaru?” He rasps.

“I’ve got him!” Chouji calls from somewhere on the right.

It’s a struggle, but he manages to move his head in the Akimichi’s direction.

Relief fills him at the sight of his partner in the boy’s arms, messily bandaged and alert.

Akamaru barks at him in greeting, and he can’t stop the smile from crossing his face.

A piece has come back to him, and he’s starting to feel more like himself.

“Sorry,” Chouji apologizes, “we didn’t have much water to begin with, so I couldn’t clean him all the way.”

He gives the Akimichi a soft smile.

“Thanks. But how did you? When did you?” He can’t seem to form the words he wants to.

“We were already helping out with morons one and two, when your dog found us,” Shikamaru drawls, moving out of the bushes and next to Chouji.

“Help?” He asks confusedly.

“More like, one of those Rain guys landed next to the bushes we were hiding in, and Ino accidently screamed,” Chouji clarifies cheerfully.

That makes a lot more sense.

“Shikamaru figured out what happened when we saw Akamaru and came up with this plan,” Chouji tells him.

Chouji moves over to Hinata, Akamaru still secured in his arms. Together with Ino, Hinata digs through both Team 8 and Team 10’s medical supplies.

Shikamaru flicks a concerned gaze down at him before pretending he’s looking at a nearby plant instead.

“Tch. Shino almost ruined the whole thing by rushing ahead. Team 8 is so troublesome,” the Nara complains.

He blinks and tries to look for the Aburame.

Shino’s standing in his blind spot; he knows because he can smell him.

He pushes away the creeping sense of guilt; he’ll have time to work through that later.

“Just so you guys know,” he tells them pleasantly, “I can’t move.”

-*-

He feels like he’s been mummified and tossed against a tree. Akamaru’s leaning against him, and they’re both about as useful as a house plant.

Hinata’s patched them up the best she can, but she’s no Sakura.

Still, it’s better than nothing.

“They had an Earth Scroll,” Ino announces, rifling through Takara’s pockets.

Team 8 trade uncomfortable looks as they figure out the best way to phrase, “Hand it over.”

Shikamaru rolls his eyes, understanding exactly what they want to say.

“Don’t worry, we don’t need it,” he says.

“You guys already have both scrolls?” He asks in disbelief.

They weren’t called Team Loser for nothing.

“We found it,” Chouji says uneasily.

“U-Um, found…?” Hinata questions.

A dark look passes over Shikamaru’s face.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay far away from Gaara of the Sand.”

Ino pales, and Chouji opens a bag of chips lightning fast.

He doesn’t need to know any more than that.

-*-

Team 8 and Team 10 make an alliance until the end of the second stage.

What this means is Team 10 gives up some of their supplies in exchange for following Team 8 to the finish line.

Chouji stuffs something down his throat, and he’s out cold before he can figure out what.

-*-

He wakes up briefly. He feels himself wrapped around someone and the air is moving around them.

Something gently ruffles his hair, and he is a hundred percent certain that it’s no hand.

“Didn’t know ya cared s’much,” he slurs.

“You are a teammate, regardless of any personal feelings,” Shino says stiffly.

He bets Hinata has one of Shino’s tracking kikaichu in her hair as well.

“You and ‘nata, the best. Never forget,” he promises before burrowing his face into Shino’s shoulder.

“You are not so bad yourself…”

He drifts off before he hears the rest of Shino’s undoubtedly long-winded statement.

-*-

Ino slaps him awake just as they’re about to enter the tower.

He bares his fangs at her, but he’s far too tired to put any real heat behind it.

He thinks it’s nighttime; they’ve made it at the end of the first day.

Shino continues to carry him, and he doesn’t even consider demanding to be dropped.

He’s fatigued, hungry, thirsty, and in incredible pain.

At this point, he’d make Akamaru carry him.

Team 8 and Team 10 part ways, going into separate doors

An empty room greets them; Hinata’s already laying out the scrolls before he can say anything.

An unfamiliar face appears in a puff of smoke; unsmiling and utterly serious, the chunin begins to drone on about heaven and earth.

He’s out the moment he hears, “You pass.”

-*-

He’s jostled awake the moment they get to their temporary room.

Shino slides him onto one of the cheap beds, and he thinks he’s never felt anything more comfortable.

Hinata leaves in search of water and supplies. Akamaru curls up beside him.

There are four days left to the second stage. He’ll probably sleep through them all.

Shino remains in the room, leaning against the wall to his right.

The Aburame is a comforting presence; the hum of his bugs is soothing in a way.

His eyes shut.

He’ll think about things later.

-*-

He’s having a dreamless sleep for once.

No Sakura to haunt his nightmares, no evil version of himself, nothing.

It’s rather nice.

“KIBA!”

Hinata catches him before he rolls out of bed.

-*-

“I’msorryIshouldhavesaidsomethingWhydidn’tyoutellmeIcan’tbelieveyou-”

He’s rubbing his eyes and wondering what he did to deserve this.

Oh, wait.

“Oi, Sakura.”

“I’mgoingtostrangleyoubutfirstletmeseeyourbandages-“

“Sakura!” He yells.

She shuts up and gives him a puzzled look like he’s the one not making any sense.

Akamaru gives a whine next to him, everyone’s too loud. The ninken buries his head underneath his paws with a huff.

He rolls his eyes.

“Look, I’m fine. We ran into a fight we weren’t prepared for. The worst I’ve got is chakra depletion,” he tells her.

She tugs on the end of his jacket sleeves, and he knows she’s going to tear a hole in them eventually.

Not his jacket, he reminds himself.

“I ran into Ino. She told me what happened,” Sakura says quietly, looking past him.

He doesn’t say anything.

“I had to hear it from Ino first. Ino,” she scowls.

“Sasuke, Naruto, and I, we’ve been here the entire time. They had us replaced with examiners the moment we went to get our scrolls. I’ve been here sitting on my ass the whole time, and you’re out there dying,” she rants to the wall.

She bites her lip, and he still doesn’t know what to say.

She reaches out to him uncertainly, chakra flowing to her hands. He holds his arm out to her, silent permission to her unasked question.

Sakura is very good at what she does, even if she can’t completely heal everything.

“You were poisoned, looks like it tried to eat your chakra,” she states uncertainly, “but it faded? Or you sweated it out?”

He shrugs at her; he doesn’t have a clue.

Still, most of the pain fades away, and anything serious diminishes to “go to hospital eventually” status.

There’s something bugging him though.

“Why are you here?” He questions.

“What?” She asks, hurt. “Kiba, even if everything’s messed up, I wouldn’t just not care.”

He thinks he sees her chin tremble and backtracks immediately.

“That’s not what I meant!” He says hurriedly. “I meant, why are you here when there are people after Sasuke. Why are you in this tower?”

“Oh,” she blinks.

“We still have to participate in the Chunin Exam, you know, and,” she hesitates before whispering, “Sasuke’s not actually here. Kakashi-sensei’s running around as him under a Transformation Technique. It’s kind of creepy, but I don’t think Naruto’s noticed.”

“Naruto doesn’t seem to notice anything that isn’t ramen-flavored,” he says wryly.

“Yeah, he’s like that,” she agrees with a laugh, “but he’s incredible even if he’s not very perceptive. You should see the traps he makes!”

He grins before getting serious. It’s time.

“Sakura, I have something I need to-” He cuts himself off as the door opens.

“U-Um, S-Sakura, I didn’t know if you wanted water or juice, s-so I…” Hinata says shyly.

Shino and Hinata enter, arms filled with food, and all he can think is _damn the timing._

Akamaru perks up, and Sakura passes him a bottled water.

-*-

They have two days left. He’s surprised he’s still somewhat functional. Even with the affinity for Soldier Pills, he’s strained his chakra system so much he’s supposed to be unconscious.

Sakura makes him stay in bed for the remainder of the test. Akamaru almost rats him out when he starts making faces behind her back.

Chouji is unusually sympathetic to his Soldier Pill crashing and forces him to eat more food than he’d like.

Ino distracts him with dramatic retellings of gossip but eventually runs out of steam.

He’s left staring at the wall.

-*-

The second stage ends in one day; he almost can’t wait. He’s getting stir-crazy to the point Sakura manages to convince Shino to go on, “Kiba Watch.”

Inuzuka’s are not meant to be confined to a bed, he thinks despairingly.

Naruto and “Sasuke” have been by a few times. He thinks they’re currently having a race somewhere in the hallway. He can hear the yelling anyways.

Ino’s taken to Hinata in a way that says she’s completely forgotten about the shirt incident; they’re currently accompanied by Akamaru in scouting out the rest of the tower.

(He knows they can take care of themselves, but Akamaru knows what to watch out for)

Shikamaru and Chouji mostly avoid leaving their own room, so he hasn’t seen them in a while.

The only ones in the room with him are Sakura and Shino. This is a good opportunity to talk about important issues he’s been avoiding these past few days.

He’s been telling himself that for the last three minutes.

He takes a breath.

“Hey, um,” he shifts uncomfortably, “can you give us a sec?”

He blinks when Shino gives a slight nod and heads for the door.

Oh, for the love of—

“Wasn’t talking to you, Shino,” he says waspishly before turning to look towards Sakura. “Oi, Sakura, give us a minute?”

She looks startled but stands without hesitation.

“I’ll just go grab something to drink then.” She gives him a stern look, “Don’t even think about leaving that bed.”

She power walks out, and he’s left with nerve-wracking silence.

He honestly doesn’t know where to start.

“Shino,” he begins, “I said some things.”

He doesn’t know how to continue from here, but he tries.

“Told you, you were forgettable, not interesting, I-” He stumbles over his words.

“I understand,” the Aburame interrupts him. “You were conveying your feelings in relation to my accusations, and I lacked tactfulness in my own grievances.”

Sometimes he wishes he has an old fashioned dictionary when he deals with Shino.

“That’s not-”

“You should not feel guilty over factual insults. Why? You are not wrong. When not frightened of me, I am forgotten by the majority of even our comrades. As noted by more than one citizen of Konoha,” he pauses as if recalling something.

“I am not interesting at all,” he finishes with certainty.

He wishes he had an old fashioned dictionary so he could smack Shino with it.

“Don’t ever say that!” He growls. “You’re one of the most interesting guys I know. If anyone ever says anything like that again, I’ll knock their teeth out!”

Shino’s eyebrows furrow and he can smell the confusion rolling off the bug-user.

“Your words from earlier indicated-”

“Yeah, I lied,” he says, this time interrupting Shino instead. “I just wanted you to hit me.”

There’s nothing quite like honesty; it burns in a way lies never could.

“What?” Shino asks flatly.

He winces. Short sentences are bad when it comes to the Aburame; single words are even worse.

“I wanted you to,” he struggles to say this next part, “hurt me.”

He carefully avoids looking at Shino as he says,

“I wanted you to kick me to the ground and not let me get back up. I wanted you to knock me out.”

The wall across from him is the most interesting thing he could look at. Honest.

“I’m sorry.”

A full minute goes by, and he doesn’t hear even a single buzz. For the first time in forever, he feels regret.

Regret and shame.

The way he treated Shino, the trouble he dragged his teammates into, the way he handled everything, the fact that he tried to run—

“If you are seeking forgiveness, I cannot grant that at the moment.”

He whips his head towards Shino in shock.

“Shino, I-”

Shino takes off his sunglasses, and he is speechless.

“It is not your previous words that have given me such a wound. It is the fact that you thought I would ever attack a teammate and a friend over something so frivolous.”

Narrow eyes watch him with an intensity that not even Sakura or Hinata could ever hope to match.

He can’t find the words; all the apologies in the world die on his lips.

“I do not have many friends, not even among my own clan,” Shino says quietly,

“So long as I proved capable of teamwork, I needed none. This is what I told myself many times. I did not expect anything more when our genin team formed. I was not interested in making friends. Previous teams with the same set up showed how our relationships would form.”

Shino’s stare is heavy and honest.

“Except it did not go as assumed. You do not show the same aggression as seen in the past, and Hinata does not show the disdain of the Hyuuga. Forming ties with the two of you are not as burdensome as predicted, even with the mystery surrounding Sakura and yourself.”

“Mystery?” He chokes out.

“Do not pretend there is no secret between the two of you,” Shino says severely. “As much as I’ve tried, I cannot piece it together. Despite this, I will support you even when it is detrimental to myself. All I ask is that you keep in mind Hinata and yourself. All I ask is that you do not forget me.”

The Aburame puts his sunglasses back on and says no more. The silence that fills the room this time contains the rattling of Shino’s kikaichu.

He doesn’t know what to feel or what to say.

He looks away.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats.

“I’m sorry I forgot that you’re my friend. I’m sorry I’m an idiot. I’m sorry I can’t tell you what I’m dragging you into.”

Sakura deserves to know everything he’s been hiding from her. Sakura should be the first to know.

And yet, maybe he’s been overlooking someone else who deserves to know.

One step at a time, he thinks.

“I started breaking under stress of the secret,” he admits. “I thought Sakura was the only one hurt by it. When I said all that stuff, what I wanted was an excuse to keep me from moving forward.”

He’s tired in more than one way; he’s only realizing that now.

“If it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t participate in the Exam, it wasn’t my fault that the secret wouldn’t be my problem anymore,” he pauses as he thinks it over. “I was an idiot.”

He gives his teammate a wry grin.

“I am a complete moron. You don’t have to forgive me, because I don’t think I can forgive myself.”

He leans back and lets his eyes drift shut. Sakura will probably be angry that he fell asleep leaning against the wall when he’s sitting on a perfectly good bed, but she’s crazy like that.

“Thanks for being my friend,” he tells Shino sleepily.

He drifts off thinking about the future, thinking about the past.

So far, he’s ignored his own problems until they blew up in his face.

He slipped up and placed his team in danger. He’s made a mess of things with Sakura and almost died before he could mend it.

There’s someone out there who knows, and their reach extends from Konoha to Ame. More than Sasuke may be in danger, if there are any more Takaras running around.

Most importantly, he forgot why he’s risking himself in the first place.

His friends, his family, comrades, and country—

He’s going to make sure they get their happy ending or die trying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if there are any mistakes! I'll go back and proof read it in depth another day, life's been hectic lately.


	3. All that glitters is gold

Team Gai is composed of remarkable genin. Each member is highly-trained and experienced.

They are also completely insane and are the last thing anyone wants to wake up to in the morning.

_“I am Rock Lee, and I have finally found you, Uchiha Sasuke—an angel?”_

_“U-Um, no. I’m just Sakura, Haruno Sakura.”_

_“Very well then! I must not lose! I will give it everything I have!”_

_“Lee, no! You’re going to get us kicked out!”_

_“Hn, you’re a damned idiot, just like the dobe.”_

_“Hey! Who are you calling an idiot, you idiot!”_

No amount of pillow can block out the sounds of these morons.

He growls up at the ceiling, and Akamaru lets out a huff.

Before Team Gai can make a mess of things, an announcement is made. They have exactly five minutes to get their gear together and head to the main hall.

He reluctantly rolls out of bed, taking the pillow, the blanket, and even Akamaru with him.

He groans into the floor as Akamaru barks his complaints.

He wonders how mad Kurenai-sensei would be if he pulled a Kabuto.

-*-

He shuffles into the arena, Shino and Hinata on either side of him. Akamaru rides on top of his head, quietly feeding him information.

The Hokage and their jonin-sensei stand across from where the genin are being forced to line up.

He’s not even halfway across the room when he’s forced to meet Sakura’s eyes.

Her eyebrows are furrowed, brain working at high speed. He narrows his eyes at her, asking a silent question.

_Do you see that?_

She taps her lips in response.

He keeps his shuffling gait and lines up with the rest of the genin. He forces his eyes towards the Hokage, leaving Akamaru to keep sight of the new anomaly.

Zaku and Orochimaru aren’t here. He expected that.

What he didn’t expect was to be standing beside a team from Kusa.

Black and white pages are burned into his mind and into his dreams. He knows for a fact no one from Grass made it to the preliminaries.

In fact, Kusa had been unimportant from beginning to end.

Then again, he never actually finished the manga. He supposes Grass could have been important later.

That doesn’t change the fact that they’re not supposed to be here.

-*-

It’s an obvious secret that the matches are rigged.

As the Hokage says, the Chunin Exams take the place of actual battles, and the one hosting them is given the home field advantage.

Even known as the “nice” one, Konoha is not stupid enough to play fair.

Each match is pre-determined with their customers and enemies in mind.

Difference in contestants aside, Hinata will still be facing Neji. Only one Hyuuga is needed in the finals, and Konoha wants the strongest one.

The knowledge of what Neji will do to Hinata is stressing him out as much as the Grass ninja.

“For those who wish to quit, please step forward.”

The sickly ninja, Gekko Hayate, finishes with a terrible cough, and he realizes he’s out of time.

“Guess I’m going to quit,” Kabuto states ruefully, taking a step forward.

He can feel the weight of everyone’s expectations stabbing him in the back. He’s exhausted, he has no supplies, and his team no longer need him to keep going.

The smart thing to do would be to give up.

Even his teammates, he knows, want him to yield.

He takes a breath and stands still.

Hinata whispers his name into his ear, and he throws her a confident grin over his shoulder.

No one said he can’t give up later.

“Let the preliminary exam begin,” Hayate coughs.

-*-

They unveil the electronic scoreboard.

The tension in the room is palpable, but not quite for the right reason.

The scoreboard once would have said, “Uchiha Sasuke vs Akado Yoroi.”

Instead it says, “Yamanaka Ino vs Akado Yoroi.”

He notices Anko furiously whispering into her headset, and a set of proctors scurrying off behind her.

This tells him this was not the expected match up.

The matches are rigged, but not by the home team.

-*-

The rest of the genin are sent into the stands with their teachers.

Kurenai-sensei greets them warmly, even as she runs a concerned eye over all of them.

Undoubtedly, she can see exactly what they’ve been through, if her frown aimed at him and Akamaru is anything to go by.

Shino allows him to rest against him, and Hinata holds onto Akamaru for him.

(He pretends he can’t smell the overwhelming scent of sand and blood even from here)

Team 8 turn their attention to the floor.

“I won’t lose!” Ino declares to her opponent.

Her stance is confident, reflected by her scent.

She thinks she’s fighting a fellow Konoha ninja; she doesn’t know that she’s fighting an enemy.

Ino’s not the strongest, but she’s no push-over either. He’s a little worried, but he will just have to see how it goes.

Akamaru tells him he’s forgetting something.

“Oi, Ino!” He yells loud enough to make Shino buzz irritably, “Make sure you break him!”

The Yamanaka throws him a thumbs up and then the match starts.

Yoroi begins by throwing shuriken and charging towards Ino, fist out stretch.

Ino barely manages to dodge but catches a kick to the side that sends her onto the floor.

She rolls out of the way as Yoroi slams his fist into the floor, cracking it. Ino throws a kunai to buy her time to get up.

She gets to her feet and throws another kunai. Ino’s breathing is heavy and her stance is poor.

The Yamanaka is far too winded to be normal.

Ino places her hands into a seal, eyes narrowing onto her opponent.

Yoroi is on top of her almost immediately, arm reared back, and it seems to be game over.

Ino drops to the ground, Yoroi’s fist barely missing her head, and rolls directly behind the stumbling ninja.

The traitorous ninja turns to see three Inos standing before him.

“What do you take me for, an amateur? Seeing through the basic Clone technique is child’s play!” Yoroi scoffs.

“Maybe,” the three Inos say, hands forming the signature Yamanaka seal, “but can you keep up?”

Ino and her clones sprint off, evenly spreading out while circling the other ninja.

“Thought you could just take my chakra and I wouldn’t notice? Guess I’ll have to pay you back!” The Inos taunt.

The other ninja doesn’t move, even as the Inos circle faster.

“You know how it feels to take away people’s chakra? How do you think it feels to take away people’s minds?”

The Inos continue their taunts, keeping up their even pace.

The Konoha traitor has only one chance to attack the real Ino.

Yoroi requires a small recovery moment when using his chakra absorption technique, and if he goes after a clone, he’ll be left wide open for the possession technique.

“You can’t fool me! This is the real one!” Yoroi shouts.

The ninja surges forward hand going straight for the girl in front of him.

“What?” Yoroi yelps.

His hand fazes straight threw her, and momentum sends him stumbling forward.

“Wrong choice!” The Ino behind him announces.

She slams the hilt of the kunai into the back of his head, and the Konoha traitor slumps over instantly.

They wait a moment to see if the ninja is truly down for the count.

Hayate announces the winner to be Ino, who flips her hair with a smug look.

-*-

“Thought you were going to use your Mind Body Switch technique?” He asks.

“Please, I didn’t even have enough chakra to make a fourth clone,” Ino tells him.

“Well done,” Asuma says with a smile, “you worked out his technique from the beginning and fought fear with fear like a true Yamanaka.”

Ino beams at the praise.

“You were using your hand formation to intimidate him into losing focus. Any time he looked like he was about to figure it out, you made one of your clones raise your arms slightly,” Shikamaru states sounding slightly impressed.

“Smart, very unlike you,” Shikamaru finishes with a backhanded compliment.

“Just what are you trying to say?” Ino screams, shaking the Nara by the front of his shirt, “Are you saying you think I’m stupid? Is that it?”

“That’s our Ino!” Chouji says cheerfully, “Even when she’s exhausted all her chakra, she’s still ready to scream at Shikamaru.”

-*-

Haruno Sakura vs Tsurugi Misumi

He leans back to catch Sakura’s eye from behind Team 10.

“Don’t kill him,” he tells her.

“If you do, make it look good,” Sasuke intervenes.

She rolls her eyes and jumps over the railing as Naruto yells out his encouragement.

Shikamaru gives him a calculating look, and he has no doubt the other genin knows he was being serious.

In Sakura’s mind, Misumi is a spy to be put down; she will not be holding back in this fight.

No one else knows Misumi is a traitor. If she kills him, she’ll look just as bad as Neji.

He blows out a breath as Sakura takes her place on the floor. He’s going to have to trust that she can make it look like an accident.

-*-

Sakura’s fighting style is an interesting one in that she has to compensate for a partner that never existed in the first place.

At its base, she uses the clan’s taijutsu, which is a vicious, heavy-hitting one. It’s designed to overwhelm the opponent through sheer power.

Sakura’s not strength-oriented, nor does she have a partner to keep up the relentless hits, and has changed it to fit her needs.

He knows she’ll be keeping most of her tricks up her sleeve, but that doesn’t make her any less dangerous.

-*-

“Match, begin.”

Sakura grabs something from her waist pouch, only to place it back in immediately.

This gives Misumi enough time to be on top of her.

He goes to grab her, but Sakura throws herself forward and under his arm.

She rolls away, twisting her waist pouch behind her.

She gets back up and throws a punch at Misumi’s face.

Misumi dodges it and grabs her by the wrists.

The other ninja’s body turns into a horrifying sight of dislocated limbs and stretching muscle.

His left arm coils around hers; his right arm coils around both her arm and her neck. Sakura’s legs, too, are held in place by her opponent's own legs twisting around hers.

“I’ve got you!” Misumi shouts, “My arm will break your neck. Give up now!”

A beat of silence passes.

“Hey—” Misumi tries.

“Did it ever occur to you, that the one ‘who’s got’ is you?” Sakura interrupts.

Before Misumi can even reply, Sakura’s mouth opens enough to extend chakra from her canine teeth.

The chakra slides over her chin and down onto the wrist around her neck.

Misumi howls in agony.

Quickly, Sakura extends chakra to her left hand, forming blades that cut into his other wrist.

The other ninja doesn’t stop screaming.

The chakra blades give her extra reach, but Sakura is still in a hold that threatens to break her bones.

Good thing she’s not done yet.

The pouch on her waist explodes, and sends her flying forward with teeth and nails still hooked into flesh.

The following result is not pretty.

Sakura’s backside is burned, and Misumi loses his hands as Sakura twists while falling forward. Chakra blades on her toenails ensure a quick release of her legs.

Quickly rolling to a stand, Sakura turns around with chakra blades still going.

She thrusts her hand towards the flailing Misumi’s throat—

“Match! Winner, Sakura!” Hayate hurriedly calls.

Sakura stops short and heaves a breath. She gives him a look, throws her team a peace sign, and walks over to the beckoning medic ninja.

He laughs.

She didn’t kill him, but she still managed to make it look good and like an accident.

-*-

He sort of expects her teammates to be shocked at the ruthlessness.

“That was so cool! Did you see Sakura? He totally thought he had her, but nope!” Naruto says pumping both fists.

“Tch, she could have finished sooner,” Sasuke says disdainfully.

“Now, now, you know Sakura likes to make a ‘point’,” Kakashi says mirthfully.

Well, he thinks, they are her teammates.

Learning how to not anger Sakura is probably a survival skill even they picked up on.

-*-

The floor is cleaned and the scoreboard yields the next match.

It’s his name, and one he doesn’t recognize.

Nagao Hisato.

Akamaru leaps over the railing first, and he follows without hesitation.

His previous plan was to forfeit the moment his match began; now however…

“Ready, Akamaru?” He asks softly.

The ninken barks an affirmative, taking a battle ready stance by his side.

Hisato takes to the field across from him, and he has to blink.

His opponent has a penchant for gold.

The grass ninja is practically shining with it. He’d seen it earlier, but only now does he realize just how gaudy the other dresses.

“Match, begin!”

Akamaru begins circling around him defensively as he studies his opponent.

Anything that isn’t covered in gold, is instead wrapped up in Hyuuga bright, white.

Kusa is a well-known, if underrated, ally to Konoha. Ninja from the area favor neutral, traditional clothing and hairstyles. They hold a standard image of calm, serene diplomacy.

For a ninja from Grass, this one sticks out like a sore thumb.

That’s probably the idea.

“Are we going to fight or are we going to stare at each other all day?” Hisato asks, bouncing in place.

Kusa ninja tend to favor swordsmanship, and even if there isn’t a sword hanging on his back, that doesn’t mean anything with the ability to seal.

“Well, I mean. I’m pretty cute, and you’re pretty cute. So it’s not exactly a trial,” Hisato states, “but we really should get on with it.”

Grass liked their poisons, so contact was out.

“Kiba! What are you doing, man? Fight!” Naruto shouts.

His opponent probably already knew his fighting style.

“Well, I was kind of hoping you’d rush me, but I guess I’ll start!” Hisato states, dashing forward.

The Grass ninja aims a drop kick at Akamaru, only for the ninken to dash out of the way.

He leaps forward, grabs his opponent’s wrist and pulls. The Kusa ninja is forced into his other fist, and he throws the other boy as far as he can.

Which is not very far, he thinks dismally.

“Ow,” the Grass ninja says getting up. “That actually hurt.”

He keeps a defensive stance even as the Kusa ninja pulls out a handful of senbon.

Akamaru rushes him from behind, and the moment Hisato turns to throw the senbon at the ninken, he dashes forward aiming a punch at the Grass ninja’s back.

Hisato jumps to the side. He pushes all of his weight on his ankle to turn with his opponent.

The Grass ninja hisses as the momentum allows him to land a hit on the other’s chest.

Akamaru jumps in as he moves to take another swing.

Hisato recovers and lashes out, first with a low sweep kick and then a roundhouse kick aimed towards Akamaru.

He jumps backwards to catch his partner and takes a moment to get his breath back.

“You’re not in any shape to fight me, so why are you trying so hard?” Hisato wonders.

He’s not sure either, but he’s going to get _something_ out of this fight.

“Could it be that you’re curious about me? You haven’t read about me, so now you want to know all about me, is that is?” The other boy asks lightly.

“Are you always so egocentric?” He shoots back.

In response, Hisato lets loose the senbon he’s been holding onto.

He dodges them, only to see a kunai aiming for his face. Akamaru manages to deflect it in with a distorted version of Passing Fang, but the ninken is sent flying backwards.

“Damn, Akamaru!” He yells through gritted teeth.

A bark lets him know his partner is okay.

Hisato takes the moment to taunt him.

“I was thinking of making a story, one about a lonely, stupid boy who wants to be the greatest ninja. What should I name him? Noodle? Or how about-”

“Akamaru, it’s time to throw all we’ve got,” he cuts off the other boy.

He forms the hand seal for the Human Beast Clone technique, and in a puff of smoke, Akamaru stands beside him with his face.

He doesn’t have enough energy for the Four Legs technique, so this will have to do.

He’s confirmed his suspicions. He should be able to give up with no regrets, and yet—

“Let’s go, Akamaru!” He shouts.

He pours almost all of his chakra into a weaker Fang Passing Fang technique.

The look on Hisato’s face is almost comical as he’s forced to keep jumping away from both Akamaru and him.

Show me, he thinks.

_Show me who you really are._

Akamaru and he tear up the floor to an unrecognizable state.

It’s hard to keep their chaos from going near the upper floor; he wishes that he could go all out.

Instead, he speeds up. Akamaru follows suit and goes faster.

Hisato is forced to summon two daggers that attach to his arms. He throws them and the chain forces him to follow.

He throws a dagger, catching it as he throws the other. The Grass ninja is only able to keep away using this method; the daggers allow him to keep moving without stopping.

It’s better than he could have asked for.

His chakra is depleted, so he cancels his part of Fang Passing Fang. Akamaru stops a moment after.

He looks at Hisato from across the ruined the arena; they’re both heaving, taking in breaths.

Unfortunately, he knows the other will soon recover, unlike him.

“Man, that was—that was a workout!” Hisato exclaims, “You even made me bring out my toys!”

Akamaru informs him of the ninken’s own lack of chakra even as he sees his opponent starting to regain composure.

“Truly, you are the one that sets my heart on fire! I mean, man is it burning, woo!” The Grass ninja rambles.

Now would definitely be a good place to throw in the towel.

And _yet_.

“Do you ever shut up?” He asks between breaths.

“No,” the Kusa ninja replies simply.

The other boy rushes towards him with daggers held in a defensive grip. The Grass ninja is in front of him, pulling his leg back for a brutal kick.

He doesn’t think so much as react.

He falls backward and aims a kick upward.

This sends Hisato sprawling on top of him. The other boy quickly grabs onto his wrists and tries to pin down his legs.

He keeps his knee up and tries to move the Grass ninja sideways.

They’re locked into a grapple, Hisato’s daggers still attached and flailing around them dangerously.

Akamaru growls in impatience, but stays put. The ninken’s transformation doesn’t have long and plans to make his final attack count.

Hisato succeeds in pinning down his legs, and he gives up struggling for a moment to think.

“Tell me, do you dream about being Hokage? Or have you decided to go off script?” The Grass ninja questions lowly.

He narrows his eyes, pinned down and unable to move.

He’ll have to trust in Akamaru to time it right.

Hisato hovers above him, smug smile in place. He is expecting a blade to his neck—

Only to find gold-colored lips covering his own.

His first thought is that it’s very bitter. His next is:

_Absolutely not._

He head-butts the Kusa ninja so hard he swears color bleeds out of the world.

He feels the edge of Akamaru’s Passing Fang graze him, and Hisato is thrown off.

A symphony of outraged voices cry out in the background which only make his head throb.

Akamaru lands next to him. The ninken’s transformation ends in a puff of smoke.

Indignation shoots through him at the sheer nerve.

The Kusa ninja gets up and slowly removes the chains holding his daggers.

He motions to Akamaru to stay put.

This is going to end with him unconscious; there’s no need to drag his partner down with him.

He stares into his opponent’s smirking face, waiting for the wordless signal.

Hisato narrows his eyes, and they rush forward at the same time.

They exchange blows; he pours everything he has into his punches as Hisato throws all his strength into kicks.

He knows it won’t be enough, but he’s going down swinging.

Hisato manages to hook his ankle beneath his, and they’re sent falling to the floor again.

The Grass ninja’s lips come dangerously close to his own, and he manages to throw an elbow up into the other’s face.

He rolls out of the attempted grapple, and lands a blow on the other’s arm.

_“HEY, PERVERT! HANDS OFF SAKURA’S BOYFRIEND!”_

He doesn’t roll his eyes, but it’s a near thing.

He barely dodges the kick aiming for his face.

_“Naruto! He’s not my boyfriend!”_

_“Ow!”_

He jumps to avoid a sweep kick, and Akamaru barks at him to get it together.

_“I see, so this is my rival in love! YOSH!”_

_“You’ve got it wrong! Lee, no!”_

Distractions, he thinks irritably.

Nothing but distractions—

Ah.

_“No interfering with the ongoing fight!”_

He’s sent reeling backwards by a kick to the stomach, and he knows he lost the moment he gave in to the other’s ploy.

He blinks rapidly and tells himself to keep going, but he can barely move.

“You can’t keep this up, but it’d be a shame to give up now,” Hisato says mockingly. “Why don’t you bring in your partner?”

He bares his fangs.

“Alright, I’ll bring him in then,” The Kusa ninja says cheerfully.

Hisato sprints over to his prone daggers, and clips them on faster than he can move.

Akamaru avoids both daggers, but can’t maneuver around the Grass ninja.

A harsh kick sends the ninken slamming into the wall with a horrible sound.

The sharp feeling of panic hits him in the gut.

“Akamaru!” He yells.

Akamaru lets out a whine; the ninken is alive but isn’t going to try to get up.

It galls him, but it’s time to give up.

Before he can raise his hand, Hisato is above him.

A kick to the chest sends him flying, and his breath leaves him.

His feels like he can’t get enough air, and it takes more than a few attempts to stand back up.

“How are you feeling?” Hisato asks pleasantly.

He feels numb and tired, like he could lay down and not care about anything anymore.

Not even Akamaru’s injuries has him feeling anything.

Shit, he thinks

The world spins slightly as his mind tries to focus.

He’s avoided getting nicked by anything pointy, so how—

Bitter lips.

Shit, he thinks again.

“What did you give me?” He asks, slurring slightly.

“Oh, it’s working then? I was worried, since it took longer than normal!” Hisato chirps.

He has to fight to keep his eyes open.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a sleeping agent,” Hisato informs him. “Oh my, you don’t look so good. You should probably just sleep.”

He blinks and the Grass ninja is standing in front of him, hand outstretched.

“Nighty-night!” Hisato sings before shoving.

He falls down.

-*-

He stares up at the forest canopy above him and realizes he is dreaming.

Birdsong and echoes of rushing water fade in and out.

Bizarre, he thinks as he sits up.

His dreams are usually more—

“Inuzuka.”

A deep voice calls to him.

There we go, he thinks with a sigh.

“If you’re here to tell me I’m a failure, save it. I’ve got a headache,” he tells whatever stands in front of him.

He rubs his forehead and grimaces. The worst part is that it won’t be going away until he wakes up.

“Why are you a failure?” The voice asks him.

Oh boy, here comes the philosophy crap.

“Well, obviously I can’t help anybody if I keep getting thrown around,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Why not?”

“Because fighting stories are bullshit.” He tells it bluntly, “It’s all about having god-like power and who can hit the most.”

“So you believe only power can save the world?”

He finally looks up, if only to give the dream figure the best stink-eye he can produce.

A demon in a robe stands in front of him, one he’s never seen before. Weird, as his dreams usually only produce established figures.

“Well, yeah. Even when everyone goes on about hard work and friendship, that never seems to matter when they ‘somehow’ get the power to destroy the sun,” he says dryly.

“Do you really believe hard work and friendship aren’t part of this power?” The demon asks solemnly.

“Yes. No. Look, it doesn’t matter because fate’s a bitch and only the chosen ones get to actually do anything worth a damn. I can train all I like, but I’ll never be there at the finish line.”

“You think you don’t matter?”

“Of course I matter, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to save Konoha single-handedly,” he snorts.

Those unnerving eyes watch him, and he feels like he’s missing something.

“Not that it matters,” he realizes, “since saving Konoha was never my priority.”

“Then what is?”

“My precious people,” he states firmly. “Ma, Sis, Akamaru, Sakura, my team, Team 7, Team 10, the clan.”

“I’m only fighting for them. Everything I’ve done is for them,” he says quietly.

He might need to save Konoha for his precious people, but he won’t be the only one doing it either.

“I guess if I can’t do anything, I’m just going to have to stand behind them and hold them up,” he decides.

He gives a fanged grin.

“I’m going to help them get their peaceful world or die trying,” he tells the demon.

It’s time to wake up and get to work.

The horned figure gives him a considering look.

“You wish for peace?”

“For _their_ peace,” he corrects, “for their happiness, I won’t surrender even to the unknown.”

He brushes past the demon.

“We won’t break, not if I can help it.”

He’s almost at the end of the forest path and only a blur of green seems to exist.

Odd, he thinks. Usually his dreams end at this point.

“Very well.”

That same deep voice rings throughout the forest.

“Try for your peaceful world, find the girl with three eyes.”

_What?_

The dream ends.

-*-

His eyes snap open, and the familiar scent of chemicals greets him.

It was a dream, and yet—

“Oh, good. You’re awake,” a familiar voice says.

He stiffens.

“Hisato,” he growls.

“No need to be testy,” the Grass ninja says airily.

He moves his head towards the other boy. The Kusa ninja is standing at a respectful distance, an eerie smile on his face.

He takes in his surroundings.

His limbs feel heavy; he probably won’t be able to move much.

The room he’s in is devoid of sounds and fresh scents. Akamaru isn’t beside him either, but the faint traces of both the ninken and Sis keep him from panicking.

He’s alone, can’t fight, and the enemy is literally standing in front of him.

“Why are you here?” He asks warily.

The Grass ninja seems to find the question funny if the widening of his smile is anything to go by.

“I wonder if you’ve ever asked yourself the same question?” Hisato responds.

He doesn’t say anything.

“Don’t be so put out! Lots of people don’t know why they’re here.” The Grass ninja says cheerily, “It’s just one of those things.”

“Just what are you trying to do?” He asks angrily, “You were the one who rigged the preliminary exam, right?”

A thought hits him, and he feels his stomach churn.

“You’re after Sasuke then?”

There’s no way he can stop Hisato in the state he’s in.

The Grass ninja wrinkles his face.

“Oh no, if I was after that emotional glum bucket, I’d have fought against him myself,” the other boy says scornfully.

The Grass ninja seems to lose himself in thought.

“I’m very impressed, you know,” Hisato eventually says. “I’m not exactly fresh chunin level, and you were already exhausted on top of that.”

“But you did take care of Takara, so it’s not a surprise you forced my hand,” Hisato admits.

“How does she fit into this?” He wants to know.

“Oh, she doesn’t. Poor thing just got caught in the cross-hair, you know how it goes.” The Kusa ninja pauses, “Well, you would know if you actually knew anything.”

The other boy sends him a compassionate look that sends a shiver down his spine.

“Is that what you want? To know what’s going on?” Hisato asks softly.

The Grass ninja takes a step towards him.

“Have you ever felt like you know too much, like you’re going crazy?” Hisato asks gently. “Does it feel like your haunted by your own memories?”

“There’s others like us. Like me, in any case. You’re special. You know this, but you don’t know _why_ ,” the Grass ninja tells him.

“Come with me. I know someone who has all the answers.”

The look on the Grass ninja’s face is sending him all kind of danger signals.

He has to leave. Now.

He moves his arm only to find he can’t move it at all.

He tries again and feels his wrist straining against something. His gut churns as he tries his other arm, then his legs, only to feel the same thing.

With mounting horror, he realizes all of his limbs have been tied down.

“Stay the _hell_ away from me,” he says, gritting his teeth.

He continues to fight against his restraints even as the Grass ninja takes a seat on the bed.

Everything in him is screaming to get out now, but he can’t move.

“You know, I can be a good ally to you,” Hisato says, arm moving forward.

He flinches back as gold-tipped fingernails trail his cheek.

“We have the power to change things,” the other boy says lowly, nails digging into skin.

“We can save _everyone_.”

These words are whispered to him, and for a moment, he sees it:

The future where Team 7 never broke. The clan as strong as ever in a Konoha that was never destroyed. Akamaru and him surrounded by family and friends in peaceful bliss.

Then his new world is shattered by chakra nails coming uncomfortably close to his face.

Hisato is forced to leap out of the way, barely missing another swipe aimed for his throat.

“Get away from him,” Sakura hisses, hands flexing threateningly.

Sakura hovers over him in a defensive stance, pure rage rolling off of her.

He has no idea when she arrived, but he thinks she could have timed it better.

“Ah, so the other one appears,” Hisato says crossly.

“I don’t know what your fascination with Kiba is, but it ends now,” Sakura orders.

“Of course, I’ll do that because you said so,” the Kusa ninja says sarcastically.

“If you go near Kiba again, I will kill you,” Sakura spits.

The Grass ninja blows her a kiss before strolling out of the room.

They hold their breath as the door closes behind him.

A tense moment passes, and when he’s sure Hisato isn’t coming back, he allows himself to let out something resembling a whine.

Sakura’s attention is instantly upon him.

“Hold still,” she instructs.

She cuts through his bonds easily with her nails.

“Stay holding still, I need to check something,” Sakura tells him.

She reaches towards him, making sure move slowly. She switches chakra blades for her palm technique and starts pouring chakra into his cheek.

What he expects is the familiar soothing balm of energy; what he gets is the feeling of his face melting off.

Sakura narrows her eyes when he lets out a pain-filled grunt.

“I knew it, that bastard,” she hisses.

The burning stops the moment she cancels her technique.

“You’ve been poisoned,” she tells him grimly, “but it’s beyond me to get it out.”

She begins pacing, and he’s left watching her mumble to herself.

“I don’t understand though, it doesn’t seem to be affecting anything. It’s not spreading, just sitting there,” she says, continuing to pace.

“Not moving through the openings. Not trying to get to blood pathways or chakra pathways. Like a starving dog ignoring a steak. Why?” She mutters to herself.

She comes to a sudden stop, hands clapping together.

“Alright, I’m going to contain it until someone can remove it,” Sakura says, palm lighting up.

“Most likely the poison is triggered to spread by some sort external stimulus,” she explains. “My chakra will act as a barrier and keep it from activating.”

Her hand is on his face, chakra wrapping around the invisible wound, and his cheek burns.

One wrong move from Sakura, and his face will explode.

He wonders why she can’t see how amazing it is that he knows it’ll never happen.

“You got anything that’ll let me move?” He asks once she’s done.

“I’ve got something to boost your energy levels,” she confirms, reaching for a satchel abandoned by the door.

“Something that won’t leave you in a coma,” she adds dryly.

She injects him with the medicine, and he feels his chakra spark.

Sakura watches him for any negative effects and moves onto running diagnostics when none appear.

“You’re fine,” Sakura says to herself.

“Mostly,” he says.

He really can’t ignore the fact there is poison sitting inside his face.

“Alright then, let’s get onto more important things—WHAT THE _HELL_ WAS THAT?”

He swears he sees the door shake from the sheer volume.

“I’m slapping up some silencing seals,” Sakura hisses, “and then we are going to have a _conversation_.”

He manages to sit up in alarm.

“You’re still messing with seals? After what happened last time?” He asks.

Sakura is already pulling out the supplies from her satchel.

“I have to, it’s a requirement for my field. What happened last time won’t happen again,” she says dismissively.

“Sakura,” he says in disbelief, “we went to _space_.”

He watches her neat, clean brush strokes with dread.

“It was most likely a hallucination brought on by accidentally adding the star character to the array.”

“You leave off one syllable…” She mutters under her breath.

“We took a portion of the library. To. Space. We met aliens and _moon ninja_ ,” he reminds her.

“Just a hallucination,” she responds absently.

“Hallucinations don’t leave blaster marks on the table,” he says pointedly.

She ignores him.

-*-

The walls don’t blow up, they aren’t sent spiraling into space again, and there doesn’t seem to be any negative side effects to the seals.

It’s not perfect; they test it out, and it dampens sound rather than completely silences it.

Still…

Figures that it works when he can’t get away.

-*-

“Alright,” she tells him, “my memory about these things aren’t the greatest, but I know damn well there wasn’t supposed to be a Grass team.”

She folds her arms and stares at him hard.

He almost can’t meet her eyes.

“What else do you know?” He asks.

“Nothing,” she says bitingly, “the only thing I know is that _you_ know something.”

She blows out a breath.

“Everyone thinks Hisato was just trying to mess with you when he started saying those things. I recognized what he meant, just as I recognized that you weren’t surprised.” She states lowly.

“Something’s been going on, something that I can’t see, but you,” she pauses briefly, “you know, right? You always know.”

Her gaze is as sharp as ever, he thinks.

“Sit down,” he tells her, “and I’ll tell you everything.”

She takes a seat at the end of the bed and he tells her everything.

The outsiders’ scent, the Yamanaka, Takara, the clues, his own thoughts, he says it all.

It’s something he should have done a long time ago.

He stares at her, and she stares at the wall. They sit together in silence.

“One time,” Sakura begins quietly, “a Yamanaka man substituted in our kunoichi class. From the start, he looked at me like he was studying me. It was unnerving.”

“He made small conversation with the girls in between the flower lesson. At one point, he asked us if we had our eyes on any boys.”

“He said he’d show us the how to make an arrangement with a personal message, but he just kept looking at me. When it was my turn, I said Sasuke because that was what I was supposed to say. Every girl said it,” Sakura says pausing.

“Everyone but Ino. Ino said—well it doesn’t matter now, but when she didn’t say Sasuke, he stopped looking at me. He started looking at Ino. I think that’s when she started pretending to like Sasuke to fit in,” she finishes grimly.

“I wonder…” She trails off tapping her lips.

He tilts his head towards her.

“I think we can safely thank Ino for keeping us under the radar for this long,” Sakura answers his unasked question.

She lets out a breath.

“You’ll have to give me some time to think it over. I’ve got to—I just need some time,” she tells him softly.

“For now, let’s talk about something else, _anything_ else,” she pleads.

He thinks about it for a moment.

“Tell me what I missed in the preliminary,” he prods.

What happened with Gaara and Hinata, he doesn’t ask.

“Alright, let’s see,” Sakura takes a moment to think. “Well, there wasn’t any major injuries to begin with.”

A sharp feeling of relief courses through him.

“I guess I’ll just tell you who fought who, and which one won.”

“After you, was Sasuke and Kin. Sasuke won, obviously. He didn’t even give her enough time to use her bells,” Sakura starts.

“Then it was Temari versus Dosu. Temari kicked his ass so hard, _I_ felt it. Turns out sound isn’t very good against wind. Who knew?” She snorts.

“Next was Shino’s battle against Tenten. The most Shino had to do was dodge before Tenten fell over. No one really explained that it was his bugs, so I think everyone’s convinced Shino’s either a vampire or Tenten has really bad stamina. Poor Tenten.” Sakura says mournfully.

“Then it was Naruto and Chouji. Naruto won, but, uh.”

Sakura winces as if recalling something painful.

“It’s Naruto. Let’s leave it at that. Kankuro fought against Aito-”

“Who?” He interrupts.

“One of Hisato’s teammates,” Sakura answers. “Ironically, he gave up before the match started. Hisato’s other teammate, Naoki, got Gaara. Not so ironically, he gave up before the match started too.”

“Was it still Hinata versus Neji?” He asks apprehensively.

He knows Sakura said no one was seriously injured, but that doesn’t stop the worry.

“No, Hinata got Lee,” Sakura says.

“Lee? That’s good. He stopped before she was seriously injured?” He questions.

“Oh, well. Thing is…Lee lost,” Sakura says hesitantly.

“What?” He asks flatly.

“Hinata won. She fell over the moment she was announced winner, but she defeated Rock Lee,” She tells him.

“That’s…wow.”

He’s not quite sure what to say to that.

“Yeah, I know. I guess you underestimated her,” Sakura says sounding impressed.

“No, I didn’t,” he says eyebrows furrowing. “She shouldn’t have been able to beat Lee.”

“What do you mean?” She asks, frowning.

“I mean, his whole training regimen is based on beating Neji,” he informs her. “Hinata’s good, but she doesn’t have the pure strength or stamina to keep up with Lee just yet.”

An idea hits him, and he can almost feel his cheek burn in response.

“Tell me, did he seem off? Somewhat sick?” He asks.

“You don’t think he was?” Sakura asks in alarm.

“I’m not saying anything right now,” he says dropping the subject.

He thinks about who’s left.

“That just leaves Shikamaru against Neji. Shikamaru gave up then?”

“Nope, wrong again! Shikamaru battled Neji and won,” Sakura informs him cheerfully.

He coughs.

“I’m sorry. Repeat that?”

Sakura gives him an amused look.

“I said, ‘Shikamaru battled Neji and won.’”

He stares uncomprehendingly.

“You missed it.” She says wistfully, “I’ve never seen a Hyuuga go down so quickly or in such a funny way.”

“Shikamaru? Our Shikamaru?” He clarifies, “Laziest ninja in existence took down screw-loose, rage-filled Neji? Who takes down war-hardened ninja for fun?”

“He wasn’t originally going to compete,” Sakura says, “but Chouji wanted him to.”

“He took down Neji because Chouji asked?” He questions in disbelief.

“No, Shikamaru took down Neji when the bastard mocked Chouji to his face,” Sakura says cheerfully.

Ah, he thinks, that makes a lot more sense.

He doesn't ask about the finals, and she doesn't tell him.

Instead, they pass the time talking of lighter, more nonsensical topics.

Sakura stays by his side even when night begins to fall.

He wonders if she’s trying to guard him.

“Do you ever wonder if we could have woken up to a different world?” Sakura says idly, looking out the window.

A better world, she doesn’t say.

He thinks it over.

“Of course I have,” he tells her, “I’ve thought about not having chakra. I’ve thought about not having the family I grew up with. About not having Akamaru or my teammates.”

He pauses.

“I think,” he says softly, “in any other world, we wouldn’t have met.”

Sakura doesn’t say anymore after that.

-*-

He gets to go home the next day.

It’s not because the nurses let him. It’s not even because he decided to bail.

He’s barely able to stand let alone walk out.

Sakura convinces Team 7 to take on the mission of sneaking him out.

He’d be more touched if it hadn’t ended with him flashing all of Konoha as Naruto rolled him away in a stretcher.

At least Sasuke didn’t set the hospital ablaze.

Just the hedges.

-*-

“Reckless.”

“I know.”

“Irresponsible.”

“I know.”

“Pointless.”

“Yeah, _I know_.

“Imprudent.”

“I get it, okay? I’m stupid. Just hit me and get it over with!” He shouts throwing up his hands.

Shino reaches out and gently knocks him once on the forehead.

“No amount of strikes will alleviate your ailment. Why? Because no matter how controlled you appear to be, you will always stay true to your instincts. Truly, you are an Inuzuka amongst Inuzuka.”

“Is that an insult or a compliment?” He asks narrowing his eyes.

Shino doesn’t say anything.

Even with the sheer amount of noise echoing through the compound, the bug-user somehow manages to convey his silent condescension.

“You are an Aburame amongst Aburame?” He tries.

Shino turns away, hands in pocket, and he figures it must be an insult.

“You will want to brace yourself. Why? The answer is simple. Hinata will be here soon with a get well present.”

Which means she’ll spend the whole time giving him those looks. The ones that’ll make him feel lower than dirt.

“Oh, hell.”

Akamaru barks out a laugh from the shaded portion of the porch.

“Shut up, Akamaru.”

-*-

New jacket, sandals, soda, he pauses. What else is he missing?

He reaches for his partner and rolls his eyes as Akamaru tries to hide under the covers. He decides to leave the ninken this time and fill him in later.

He faces the window and takes a breath.

He’s ready this time.

Tap.

He opens the window.

-*-

Sakura brings the food, and he brings the drinks.

A picnic in the middle of the night might seem strange, but that’s just how they are.

They don’t speak for a long time, silently eating on a familiar park bench.

“I think I’m ready now,” Sakura announces suddenly. “Let’s talk about the Sage of Six Paths to begin with.”

She looks at him like she’s expecting him to make the opening speech.

“Who?” He asks confusedly.

“The demon from your dream—oh, you don’t know,” Sakura says realizing, “you never finished.”

He shrugs at her.

“Well,” she says, “you should still know who I’m talking about.”

He stuffs another meat bun into his mouth.

“Kiba!” Sakura says exasperated, “It’s an actual religion. How could you not know?”

“Just tell me,” he grunts.

“The Sage of the Six Paths is the father of all chakra,” Sakura states, “and is the jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails.”

“The what?” He chokes, pieces of meat sent flying.

“Oh, it gets better,” she tells him dryly, “he’s currently dead, yet still alive. He’s basically a god who broke the world by having children.”

“Not that I can remember who they are, just that they’re bastards,” she mutters under her breath.

He thinks over all the mangas and comic books he’s ever read.

“Comes in at the last second, source of all evil, only god powers can stop him?” He asks in dread.

“No, the Sage is a good guy. You’re thinking of his mother, Kaguya,” she says cheerfully.

He stares at her.

“Go read the ‘Epic of the Sage’ sometime. It’ll give you an idea if nothing else,” she tells him.

“This,” he says rubbing his forehead, “is going to be awful.”

Sakura responds by popping open another soda.

“Why would this so called ‘god’ tell me to look for the girl with three eyes? How many girls in this world have three eyes? Am I going to find one only to go, ‘Oops, sorry, wrong girl’?”

He tears into a piece of bread savagely.

“Hell is strange, mysterious men with vague words,” he announces.

It’s her turn to shrug at him.

“That said, there’s Hisato and our mysterious organization to deal with,” he says lowly.

“Don’t forget that’s on top of the not so mysterious organizations out to get us,” Sakura says darkly.

They take a moment to marvel over the sheer amount of opposition they face.

“Yeah, I think we’re going to end up needing some help,” he tells her wryly.

“Your mother and Hana?” Sakura guesses.

“Hell no,” he snorts.

“Well, the list of people ‘likely to believe us while being able to help at the same time’ is amazingly low.” Sakura states cynically. “So, who are you thinking of?”

“Shino.”

Sakura’s spit take is a thing of beauty.

“Shino? Our Shino who’s currently planning to take over Konoha from the shadows over a fight with Chouji?”

Sakura opens her mouth to say something only to close it again.

“You know, he’s not _too_ evil. It might work,” she eventually decides on.

“He’s not evil! Shino’s a great guy!” He says scowling.

“Kiba,” Sakura says in disbelief, “he’s already infiltrated the lower management. He gets daily reports on Chouji’s location. He signs his papers as _Lord_ Shino.”

He can’t really say anything against that.

“Kurenai-sensei thinks it’s funny,” he eventually says.

“Fine,” Sakura sighs, “if you think he’ll believe you, go for it. Maybe we can get a list of strange people entering Konoha if nothing else.”

He knows Shino can do far more than that, but decides not to pursue that conversation.

Aburame are scary people and almost no one will ever realize.

“So, what do we do about our immediate threat, Hisato?” He asks, fists curling slightly.

He will never forget nor forgive the Kusa ninja.

“What _can_ we do?” Sakura asks lips thinning.

“We don’t know anything about him or his motivations. We don’t have any proof that he’s against Konoha because we don’t even know if he is,” she says bitterly.

He taps his cheek and sends her a mocking look.

“Yes, I know, but if he was smart he’d have already gotten rid of the evidence already,” she says.

He blows out of breath.

“So our only option is to wait until he makes a move,” he says scrubbing his face. “Seems like that’s the only thing we do.”

“One day we’ll get strong enough to be the ones going on the offensive,” Sakura states determinedly.

“One day we’ll get strong enough to beat up all the bad guys, right?” He asks sardonically.

“Of course!” Sakura chirps, throwing him a peace sign.

“And then you’ll have to retire and _do nothing_ ,” she says dramatically.

“Only after I force you into the Hokage seat,” he teases back.

Sakura draws back as if hurt.

“Don’t you dare, I never want to do that much paperwork in my life!” She says waving a candy stick at him.

“You will when you become head of the hospital,” he tells her cruelly.

“The future is not so bright anymore,” Sakura says crunching into the treat.

It really is, he thinks.

“Do you think you’ll ever fall in love?” He asks her.

He avoids looking at her face. This topic is an uncomfortable one for them.

Even so, he wants to know what kind of future he’s fighting for.

“I,“ Sakura pauses, “don’t know.”

Fair enough, he’s not sure he’ll ever find it either.

“But I think I’d like to try dating when I reach my old age, _if_ I reach my old age,” she says softly.

Something in his chest tightens.

“You’ll reach it,” he states firmly.

He’ll make sure of it.

“What about you?” Sakura questions him.

He considers it for a moment.

“I don’t think I’ll ever fall in love, but I’m open to trying,” he says truthfully.

So long as that person can accept that Akamaru and Sakura stand above them, he doesn’t say.

They watch the stars in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit of an odd duck; all the action was at the front and then it turns into “Sakura Talks: the Episode.”
> 
> That said, apologies at the lateness! Many reasons for it which include getting art ready for an anime convention at the last second, only for that to fall through. You guys are awesome, and your comments and general awesomeness gives me life.


	4. Moment of Peace, Declaration of War

"Your boyfriend's here."

He grunts and rolls over to glare up at the smirking face of his sister.

"Would you cut that out?" He grouses.

"Never," Sis promises.

One of the Three Haimaru Brothers sends him a smug smirk, while another makes a comment about bitches in heat.

Akamaru, the traitor, doesn't even bother defending him.

He makes a rude gesture with his hand, and slams the door to his room shut. He runs a hand through his hair irritably before putting on clean clothes.

He stomps out to the porch, Akamaru at his heels. Shino's already waiting, hands in pockets, and as comfortable as an Aburame could be. He gnashes his teeth,

"Do you have to be here so-"

"Kiba, smell," Shino orders, thrusting his arm out.

He does so on instinct and immediately regrets it as his body feels warmer like the sun is turning itself up by a few more degrees.

"Man, you have got to stop that," he complains. "Your experiments are giving my family weird ideas."

It's a fight to keep himself from breathing more heavily.

Shino makes face number eight, and he knows the other boy is thinking hard.

"Sakura informed me of Hisato's attempt on you while you were recovering."

He makes a face.

"Is that why you've been drugging me up?"

Shino stares at him for a moment.

"As you know, I have placed a kikaichu on you. Why? Because your tendency to sprint towards the disturbance is troubling."

He makes another face as Akamaru notes that the Aburame isn't wrong.

"Upon our next meeting, I noticed there was a trace of an unnatural chemical attached to the kikaichu. It appears to be an airborne spray, most likely scattered while you were still unconscious."

Shino pauses.

"It appears to be a pheromone designed specifically for those with an enhanced sense of smell—such as the Inuzuka. I have been trying to replicate it using the pheromones used by insects, but it seems the chemical did not have an insect base."

He tilts his head, trying to wrap his head around what his teammate is saying.

"Simply put," Shino states firmly, "I believe it was merely used as a calming agent."

He stares at the Aburame.

"Okay?"

Shino's sunglasses shine back at him omniously.

"Whatever Hisato wanted, he did not want you to fight it or perhaps he desired for you to agree to it."

He swallows and scratches his cheek.

"Good thing, I know now, huh?"

"Indeed," the other boy says harshly.

They stare at each other, and he knows where this is going before Shino says anything.

"So, uh, how's training going?" He tries.

"Hospital. Now." Shino orders.

He sighs.

Sakura apparently gave Shino an edited run down of his encounter, but it seems to have given the bug-user _ideas_.

Every morning so far, Shino swings by to either experiment on him or take him to the hospital for testing. Everything from the most innocuous test to most violating, he's done it.

Until now, he's been thinking this was a bizarre punishment for the disaster that was the second part of the exams.

"Look man," he tells him grumpily, "I don't know what you're looking for. You already know no one here can extract the poison from my face."

Shino buzzes angrily beside him, and he slinks down into the waiting room chair. Akamaru paws his foot in sympathy.

It had been a nightmare to discover that no one here even knew what it was, let alone how to get it out. He'd been angry for sure, but it had been Ma and Sakura who made the whole situation hellish.

The hospital had to buy new paintings for the waiting room, rebuild an entire wall, and send some of its doctors to other doctors for light therapy.

He thinks they're taking some of their anger out on him every time he visits.

"Don't you have clan training to do?" He asks desperately.

"I have scheduled my day adequately," Shino replies, flipping through a bug encyclopedia.

He slumps sideways in his seat.

-*-

"Today we'll work more on recognizing concealment," Kurenai-sensei tells him.

Recently, it's just been Akamaru and him with Kurenai-sensei. His team is training with their families, getting ready for the finals.

He understands, but it makes Team 8 feel a lot more empty.

"Through genjutsu or through normal means?" He asks.

"That," Kurenai-sensei says with a smirk, "is what you'll have to recognize and tell me."

She leads him on a merry chase through the marketplace, and he has to apologize for weird behavior more than once.

Eventually Akamaru tracks his teacher to a nearby park, reading a newspaper with blue hair. Ice blue eyes look up at him in amusement.

"The old man was a genjutsu, the girl was a little boy in a dress, and there was nine kunai in the bag with the old lady," he says confidently.

"And?" She raises an eyebrow.

"You're currently under a genjutsu," he adds.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

It's a good question, there are contacts and quick-dyes for fast disguises, but—

"Can't fool me, sensei!"

Kurenai-sensi smiles her famous smile that turns his insides to mush, and her disguise fades away.

Akamaru puffs up and demands credit for his achievements which earns him a nice little scratch from sensei.

She decides to let him off early, and he asks if it has anything to do with his teacher's date with Asuma. He may or may not have wagged his eyebrows a little bit.

Kurenai-sensei flushes slightly before making a hand seal. A moment later, he's being chased by a tiger. It's a stronger genjutsu as it takes him longer than normal to dispel it.

By the time he's done, Kurenai-sensei is long gone, and Akamaru is chewing on a tree branch in boredom.

"Well, _that_ was fun," he grunts.

Akamaru whines about being hungry, and he can feel his own stomach rumbling slightly.

"Sounds good," he tells the ninken, "let's get something before heading home, and if we just _happen_ to find Kurenai-sensei on her _date_."

Akamaru laughs.

They hurry on to the other end of the merchant district where a handful of non-Akimichi restaurants are. He knows for a fact Kurenai-sensei and Asuma enjoy a small eatery there.

He's almost there when he smells it. A new smell; one that is tantalizing and leaves him positively drooling.

He follows it almost blindly.

To his surprise, he comes face to face with—

"Akamaru," he breathes, "it's _pizza._ "

Pizza exists in this world as a rare treat usually carried into Konoha by far-traveling merchants.

Thing is, the pizza here is very much not like the old one he remembers. It's more bread baked with tomato and meat than what he wistfully remembers.

Yet here he is, looking at something from a lifetime ago, a mountain of cheese topped with messy vegetables on a thin crust of bread.

His mouth is watering, but it's pizza from the old world, which means he can't let his guard down.

It's a generic food stand without no one in sight. He _could_ always leave and do reconnaissance from afar.

He taps hard on the counter, and a man hurries out from behind a cloth-hanged doorway. The man is middle-aged; his hair is balding and has a gut.

He knows better than to take it at face value.

"Welcome!" The man booms, "What can I do for you?"

"Hey, man," he says casually, "noticed this place was new. Just open?"

"Yes, just got settled in! Almost couldn't wait for the paint to dry as a matter of fact!" The man laughs.

"I don't think I've ever seen pizza like this before," he says, flicking his gaze to the piece on display.

"It's something my dad taught me," the man says cheerfully. "It's different, but I'm sure you'll love it, want to try a piece?"

He really does. He's pretty sure that the place has already gone through a dozen of poison tests when the man wasn't looking, but-

He's got a job to do.

"Say, what's your name? New to Konoha?" He questions.

"How rude of me! I'm Arai Kenshin, and I just got here from Nagiso!"

He taps the counter thoughtfully. Nagiso is a decent-sized village not too far from Konoha. If he were Kurenai-sensei, he could probably keep talking and learn everything about this man.

He's not though, and he probably won't get much more out of this conversation.

"What do you think of sleeping cats?" He blurts.

"Er, they're…cute?" Arai responds unsure.

"I've woken up, now I must go back to sleep," he recites.

"Is that a proverb?" The man eventually asks.

He waits, but the man's scent doesn't change in the slightest. There's not flicker of recognition, no change in stance, nothing.

He's positive the man has nothing to do with anything going on.

"Sorry about that," he apologizes the best he can, "just overthinking things."

He knows what being on the end of a scrutinizing ninja can feel like and feels just a bit terrible for it.

"Some ninja thing, then?" Arai asks, getting his balance back. "It's alright, you lot have a lot on your plates!"

"Hopefully that includes pizza with lots of meat," he quips with wide eyes.

"Coming right up!" Arai promises.

Akamaru whines.

"And one for your canine buddy too!"

He falls in love after the first bite and swears to come back everyday. Something about this whole thing bothers him, but he manages to silence it with another bite.

Hamburgers and fries exist here, who's to say someone didn't come up with good old pizza?

-*-

By the second week, Shino finally lets up on the hospital visits but for some odd reason decides to keep visiting every morning anyways.

He's not going to complain though. He knows better than to think Shino will always be there to see later.

They sit on the porch with Akamaru lying between them, enjoying the relative peace of the compound early morning.

A window shatters in the distance, followed by a long string of cursing.

Like he said, a peaceful morning.

"Another clan member has vanished," Shino says suddenly.

Ah.

"Do you," he starts hesitantly, "think they've been, uh."

He doesn't know how to phrase this without sounding like a crazy person.

"They've been conducted into a mysterious organization? One, perhaps if not condoned then over-looked, running in the shadows of Konoha?" Shino guesses.

He blinks in shock.

"I do not know. At the moment I currently have no means to find out," the Aburame pauses before finishing darkly,

"But I _will_ find out."

He believes it.

Two years, he thinks. Danzo has two years to live.

Shino is not like his father, Shibi. The older ninja wants what's best for Konoha and is willing to keep his silence on such matters.

His teammate is far more selfish, far more ruthless. Shino will burn Konoha to the ground and build it back up from the ashes over a slight to the ones he cares about.

It's such an Inuzuka way to think.

"I'll help in any way I can," he promises.

Shimura Danzo has lived past his time, using outdated methods to bring himself personal glory. He almost can't wait to point Shino in the right direction.

He can't say Danzo isn't hiding those with Inuzuka blood, his clansmen are notoriously easy to find for a good time, but he's never actually had anyone snatched away.

Whether this is because he sees them as inferior or because none of his family would actually let him get away with it is up in the air.

(He eats with everyone at some point in his life, if he doesn't know their name, someone else does; Inuzuka will know when someone goes missing, and they will never rest until they find out why)

Shino heads home for training, and he decides to wander Konoha to see if anything interesting is happening.

Well, after he leaves Akamaru to his dental appointment.

"Stay!" He barks.

Akamaru lets out a growl and snaps his teeth at him. He grabs the ninken by the ruff and tries to shove him in the holding cage.

Tries is the key word.

"You need to keep up with your teeth," he reasons.

Akamaru whips him with his tail, and he almost throws his partner in retaliation.

"Akamaru," Sis strolls into the room, "if you do not behave, I will give you a parasite removal bath today, and I will give you another one at your scheduled time. "

Akamaru goes limp in his hand, and even the Haimaru Brothers wince at that one.

He places his partner in the cage, gives Sis a nod of thanks, and flees before she remembers he owes her chore time.

It feels a little lonely to walk Konoha's streets without his partner, but teeth are vital to ninken and isn't something he can ignore.

He's following his nose to a delicious-smelling sweet shop, when he notices a scent he hasn't smelled for more than a week.

He whips his head around and finds himself looking directly looking into blank eyes. He doesn't get to see more than that because the figure dashes away before he can blink.

"Oi, Hinata!"

Hinata runs from him and vanishes around the corner. He's left scratching his head.

He didn't really get a good look at her but something feels off.

He decides to visit Sakura's house. Thankfully her parents aren't home, so he doesn't have to play the part of a good not-son.

He finds Sakura in her room, practicing her calligraphy. She's poured over her desk; papers are scattered everywhere with streaks of black ink decorating them.

She doesn't even look up when he steps in.

"Where's Akamaru?" Is the first thing out of Sakura's mouth.

"Getting his teeth looked at," he replies.

"Nothing serious?"

"Nah, if anything, it's just to reinforce them."

"Good, good."

"So, what's up with Hinata?" He asks, throwing himself onto her bed.

"You don't know?" Sakura looks up from her paper in surprise.

"Know what?"

Sakura smacks herself with the hand not holding a brush.

"I never told you!"

"No, wait," she points her brush at him, "you should have asked by now!"

"What?" He asks exasperated.

"The finals," Sakura begins, "you don't even know who she's fighting, do you?"

A stab of deep-seated fear goes through him.

"I didn't want to know," he tells her, "but lay it on me."

Sakura studies him for a moment.

"Worry not," she says, "it's not Gaara. No, I've got to worry about that one since it's Sasuke. Again."

"Or Hisato," she adds when he doesn't say anything.

He lets out a breath.

"So then?"

"It's, uh," Sakura looks at her paper intensely, " _Naruto_."

"What?" He chokes.

"Yeah, her biggest crush is training to crush her, who knew?" Sakura says airily. "And you know what? I got Ino!"

" _Ino_ ," she stresses.

He scrubs his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. He's got a bad feeling about this.

"It's Temari versus Shikamaru, with Kankuro getting a bye."

He looks at Sakura in dread.

"Wait, that means-"

"Shino gets Hisato," she confirms grimly.

He stares up at the ceiling. He's not quite sure what he's feeling, but it's nothing good.

"Gaara and Sasuke are set to go last," Sakura tells him.

He grits his teeth,

"And you're sure there was no sabotage?"

"The Hokage, himself, held the box," Sakura says lowly.

It doesn't mean the matches aren't rigged, just that they're more likely to be rigged by Konoha.

"Seems like destiny, doesn't it?" She says softly.

Sakura rolls her brush between her fingers pensively. He narrows his eyes at her.

"Destiny doesn't include Hisato."

Sakura doesn't say anything.

"I need to go talk to Shino. Now. It's time he knows what's going on," he tells her.

"Kiba-"

He's out the door before she can finish; he's tired of waiting around. He needs to do something.

It's a long walk, one that has him cutting through the more forested areas of Konoha. It gives him time to think, to calm down.

An odor from earlier catches his attention.

He smells her before he sees her. Turning to give his teammate another attempt at a greeting, he's given no warning.

He dodges the open palm strike aimed for his face.

"Whoa! Hinata-hey!"

He manages to turn to avoid the second strike, but a third one sends him flying. He lands on his back with a grunt.

"Hinata, wait," he tries again.

Hinata isn't playing around; he has to roll to avoid the stomp to his head. He digs his nails into the dirt in an effort to get up.

He flattens himself against the ground to avoid a hit to the side of his head.

"Do you have something against my face?" He asks desperately.

He covers his head with his arms and racks his brain for anything he may have done to upset Hinata.

"Is this for peeing in your father's flower bush? Because you _know_ that wasn't my fault, he wouldn't let me go to the bathroom!" He informs her.

"This isn't-I just-" Hinata makes a noise that sounds like a dying cat.

"And if this is about Akamaru, I didn't eat him. He's getting his teeth checked out, I swear!"

His teammate makes another strangled sound, and he risks a peek upwards.

Hinata looks about as lost as he feels. The Hyuuga's posture is the worst he has ever seen it; her hair is frazzled and there are dark circles under her eyes.

The worst part, he realizes in alarm, is that she looks like she's about to cry.

"Alright," he starts slowly, "let's go get tea from cousin Junko, and you can tell me what this is about."

Hinata makes a garbled sound as he gingerly picks himself up. He absentmindedly wipes the dirt from his face as he thinks.

Cousin Junko is a married-in clan member; she specializes in serving tea out of her home. She enforces a calm, serene atmosphere with an iron fist and a razor sharp smile.

It's the only place Hinata is completely comfortable in when visiting his home.

"Let's go grab Akamaru, okay? His appointment should be over with," he tells her gently.

Hinata doesn't say a word and keeps her head down, but she follows him anyways.

-*-

Steaming tea in finely-made cups are placed on their small table, and he nods his head in thanks. Junko gives him a smile before aiming the smallest of frowns towards Hinata.

She's worried about the Hyuuga heiress, he's sure. Junko only uses the best of her dishware on people who earn it.

It's a testament to how often they've been here, really.

He waits until their host leaves before getting to the point.

"Oi, Hinata, who do I have to punch and how hard?"

The Hyuuga is currently burying her face into Akamaru's fur, having picked the ninken up to hold onto like a teddy bear.

"I need-" she mumbles the rest against Akamaru.

He squints at her as Akamaru quietly finishes the sentence for him.

_I need help._

He has to have more than this, and it's taking everything he has to keep himself from shaking her.

"Take a moment to compose yourself," he advises, "and breathe. Think about what you want to say and then how you would write it in a letter. When you're done, recite it."

It's something from one of Sakura's numerous books; he hopes it helps.

He also hopes Hinata is overreacting to whatever it is because he doesn't want to have to be executed for murder just yet.

He grabs a tea cup to keep himself from tapping on the tabletop in irritation.

It takes several minutes, but Hinata eventual lifts her face up and looks him square in the eye.

"I, Hyuuga Hinata, formally request assistance for the Chunin Exam finals. I am unable to find a sparring partner to fit my current needs and find the Inuzuka to be the challenge I need. I also," Hinata falters slightly, "require a mental assessment. I am unable to make this fact public and desire for secrecy in these matters."

Hinata bites her lip, and he takes a moment to think.

As far as he can tell, there's the finals of the Chunin Exam, something the Hyuuga have done, and a deep-seated worry that has Hinata running on fumes and going crazy.

He taps the rim of his cup and waits.

"I also," she continues softly, "request sanctuary among the Inuzuka in the event of my loss in the finals."

The cup in his hand cracks and he thinks, _oops_. Junko will understand, of that he has no doubt.

"I am willing to strip myself of my name and even my eyes if it is deemed necessary."

He thinks he hears Akamaru's growl, but he's not completely sure.

"Granted," he says, feeling like he's a thousand miles away.

"Granted," he repeats, trailing his nails down the cup.

" _Granted_ ," he snarls.

He doesn't see Hinata's widening eyes, doesn't see Akamaru's concerned glances, doesn't see cousin Junko talking to a ninken in the kitchen, doesn't see the punctured holes of a ruined cup-

All he sees is _red_.

-*-

He leaves Hinata with Akamaru, to whom she hasn't let go of yet, and Junko, who waves off both the fees for the cup and the tea.

All of his words have been short and to-the-point. Hopefully Akamaru will be enough of a reassurance that he isn't mad at her.

Unfortunately, as much as he'd love to go visit certain Hyuuga and introduce them to the idea of being a eunuch, he has someone he needs to see.

He stomps towards the center of the compound, and none of his clansmen dare to stop him. He looks up at his frankenstein of a house and blows out a breath.

It's nerve-wracking, but he needs to talk his mother.

-*-

"Where's the pup?" Kuromaru asks him in place of a greeting.

"With my teammate," he replies shortly.

The one-eyed ninken lets out a huff, but narrows his eye at him.

Among the Inuzuka it's considered bad form to leave your partner with someone else, only done in the deepest trust or desperation.

He does his best not to shrink before the ninken's gaze and keeps his shoulders up.

He is not a bad partner; he is not in the wrong. If he can't protect the people he cares about, then Akamaru can, that much he knows.

He trusts all of his friends, but it's Akamaru who he will never doubt.

Kuromaru sees something because the old ninken lets off on the scrutinizing.

"Come," Kuromaru says, getting to his feet, "she's waiting for you in the ceremony room."

He fights down the familiar feeling of dread and follows the ninken with steady footsteps. He squashes down the urge to go get Akamaru.

He'd rather have his partner by his side if it comes to blows, but he'll stand strong regardless.

Kuromaru enters the room first to take his position by his partner's side. He takes a steadying breath and walks in without hesitation.

His mother waits for him on a ceremonial mat, pristine condition owing to the lack of use. Ma makes no attempt to sit formally, sprawling out as if she's lounging on the porch.

It makes her no less intimidating.

He sits across from her as comfortably as he allows himself with only the shallowest of nods.

"Brat," she commands.

He grits his teeth.

He knows Junko sent word ahead of time with her husband's ninken, but that doesn't make this meeting any easier.

"I won't turn my back on my teammate," he warns.

Kuromaru makes a threatening growl back. Ma just looks at him, face devoid of any emotions and scent unnaturally calm.

He slams his fist into the floor.

"You taught me the importance of pack! You taught me only cowards look away when something starts happening! You taught me to value the bonds we make above all else!"

He keeps his eyes on his fist, chest heaving. Ma's scent is unmoving.

"I ask that you give my precious people a home when they don't have one. To give them family when they don't have one. It's all I ask," he says to the floor.

"That's a pretty big request there," Ma says dryly. "We can't exactly hide a Hyuuga from a Hyuuga, what with the all-seeing eyes."

"I'll take care of it," he informs her.

" _You'll take care of it?_ What, like you take care of your laundry? Like you take care of sharpening your kunai?" Ma mocks with a snort.

"I'm not asking the clan to back me up," he snarls, "I'll break away if I have to!"

Before he even sees her move, his back is connecting with the wall behind him; his head connects a moment after. He tries to get to his knees, but Ma is already there grabbing him by the collar of his jacket.

"Do you think that's something you can just say so lightly?" She growls, shaking him.

"No," he bites out, "if I've got to slash some throats-"

Ma throws him to the ground before he can finish.

"If you decide to take out the damn Hyuuga, you'll just say we've got nothing to do with it? Is that it?"

She bares her fangs down at him, and he growls up at her. He stares into her eyes unflinchingly.

"Damn," Ma eventually says, rubbing her face, " _damn_."

Kuromaru watches them silently, even as Ma begins pacing in agitation.

"We knew that the pink brat would give us this trouble but a _Hyuuga_?" Ma mutters.

He gets to his knees and tries not show discomfort from being thrown.

"The ancestors are probably howling in agony from the Hunt Ground," Ma says under her breath.

He doesn't flinch back when she shoves her face in front of his. He narrows his eyes in response to Ma narrowing hers.

He will not be moved, he silently tells her.

She surprises him by falling into a seated position and slamming a hand between them.

"Alright, brat," she says teeth on full display, "if you decide to make a move on the Hyuuga, the Inuzuka will follow. Might even be _fun_."

His breath catches in his throat.

"I don't-"

"Shut up," Ma orders.

His words die a sudden death.

"Said it yourself, didn't you? I was the one who taught you how to be a proper Inuzuka, and I damn well ain't going to look away now."

Ma looks at him fangs grinning and eyes gleaming; he is once more reminded that his mother is more demon than human.

"Nothing in this world is more important than pack," she states, " _not even Konoha is safe from us._ "

The words are fairly damning, but typical for the Inuzuka. They love as they live: deeply, fiercely, and violently.

Being an Inuzuka means to always fight for what you believe in, to never know peace.

He bows his head only for Ma to ruffle his hair.

His mother's long nails scrape his scalp, but he can't stop the warmth in his chest at such a gesture.

"Have Junko bring your Hyuuga here," she demands, "and go get your Aburame and the pink brat."

He blinks up at her in confusion.

"Don't give me that stupid look, boy," Ma snorts. "This involves _all_ of your pack. I draw the line at the other clan brats and the Uzumaki though, might draw too much attention."

"Ma," he tries.

She flicks him on the forehead.

" _Get_ ," she growls.

He runs for the door before he's literally thrown out. He does turn around to hunch his right shoulder forward while slightly nodding—an ancient gesture of respect.

"Brat," Ma says fondly.

He takes his leave but not before he hears,

"Kuromaru, start the call for a grand meeting. We've got to reinstate the old ways, gotta start preparing the anti-Hyuuga measures. This is going to be a hell of a ride!"

He's out of the house when he hears the spine-chilling howl and ignores it resolutely. He marches on towards Junko's house even as clansmen pass him by.

He made his decision, just as Ma made hers.

His clan, too, made their decision to follow in their oaths; they're not even bound by death. Anyone in his clan can leave anytime they want to.

They can never come back though.

"Junko," he orders the moment he arrives, "give us a minute."

Cousin Junko bows and hurries into the kitchen. Hinata is looking at him with frightened eyes, Akamaru in her lap.

He can smell five different teas on her breath and wonders, vaguely, if Junko was using this as an opportunity to test her teas on his distraught teammate.

"Hinata, you're going to be sitting in on an emergency meeting," he tells her. "I'm going to go get Shino and Sakura because they're going to be there too."

He sees a flash of something light up her eyes, mouth opening slightly. He decides to cut her off right there and then.

"It's too late to back out now," he tells her. "The Inuzuka stand behind _me_ , who stands behind _you_. Your requests, like I said, are granted."

"Training here isn't a problem, I'm sure you know, but this is isn't a debate about secrecy or sanctuary either. This isn't about if it should be allowed or the why. This is just a meeting to hash out the details of who's doing what if the third follow-up becomes necessary."

He sends her the infamous Inuzuka grin.

"With this, even if you win your match, you'll always have a home here."

Akamaru is reluctant to part from Hinata, who seems to be having trouble letting go of the ninken herself, but he needs his partner. He trusts his clan to watch over his teammate.

The threat of Junko, who has the threat of Ma to back her up, is also pretty heavy against any troublemakers.

He heads for Shino's home first; he knows the other boy is there and can help him track Sakura if she's not at hers.

He's got one of Shino's bugs somewhere on his jacket, which gives him something of a pass into the courtyard instead of answering to a guard.

He doesn't have to wait long.

"Kiba," Shino greets.

"Shino," he nods back, "you're needed at a clan meeting."

Shino says nothing, but he can practically _feel_ the intense observation of his person. He wishes he could say more, but he knows there are at least two Aburame listening in on this conversation.

"Very well," Shino says solemnly.

They stare at each other a moment before he realizes that Shino is agreeing to leave at that very moment.

"We need to pick up Sakura," he informs the Aburame outside the gate. "We can try her house-"

"She is at the library," Shino says shortly.

He blinks.

"You know that how?"

"I asked her to."

He waits for the rest of that sentence, but Shino says nothing more.

"Alright, let's go get her then," he says, giving up.

-*-

The meeting takes place in his house, which undoubtedly seems like something one of the poorer clans would do. Thing is, his house has maybe a thousand seals running through it.

During their frequent reconstruction of the house, the best seal masters of his clan work their ink into the wood on the sly. He can even smell fresh ink somewhere on the ceiling.

Quite frankly, there _is_ no better place for secret meetings.

He's squashed between Sakura and Shino, Akamaru in his lap; they sit across from Ma and Hinata. To his discomfort, he can feel someone's breath on his neck. His living room isn't meant to hold half of his clan and their ninken, but they have no choice.

Sakura's face is grim, and Shino is stoic. He can smell the unease from them both. Sis is giving him looks out of the corner of his eye, and Ma is getting dangerously impatient if her tapping on the floor is any indication.

Hinata surprises him. She sits in proper form, head held high despite the tense atmosphere.

The door slams shut, and he thinks he can feel the chakra around the seals come to life.

"We're all here? Good." Ma barks, "Pay attention because I ain't going over this again."

"Hyuuga princess here is asking for sanctuary from her family in case things go wrong. It's already been accepted," Ma says bluntly.

The thunderous roars are immediate. He can hear outraged yelling among those shouting for clarification.

Sakura hisses between her teeth, no doubt figuring it out, and Shino's buzzing can somehow be heard over the lungs of his family.

Something about what Ma just said is bothering him though. Ma didn't say, "in the event Hinata lost her match."

_In case things go wrong._

He looks at Hinata and wonders if she heard Ma's words too.

"ALRIGHT, SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ma shouts.

Kuromaru lets out a warning howl, and it goes silent immediately.

"We all know the Hyuuga ain't right in the head," Ma says flatly. "They think they can get away with treating anyone like anything because of their eyes. Already know princess is here, I'm betting."

"Not even their _heir_ is safe from their awful little hands, so I'm going to divulge one of their priceless clan secrets now because they can _eat shit_."

Hinata makes something resembling a sound, and Ma ruffles her hair absentmindedly.

"Not talking about you, princess."

"This isn't something the princess told me, she ain't one for spilling clan secrets. It's something I learned from a teammate of mine. From him, I learned there ain't no such thing as loyalty to the Hyuuga, only power."

Ma takes a deep breath, looking like she's seeing something from the past.

"Children who aren't born into their elite club get branded like merchandise. They get sealed on their forehead and any sign of disobediance is punished through this seal."

She growls.

"They're taught that suffering for they're precious bloodline is their _duty_. To be loyal to a handful of men who say they have to or face torture and execution by their hands!"

"They can't throw a punch like a damn human, no they got to torture their own family with a hand seal all while promising threats of instant death," Ma snarls. "All because the most important thing to them are _eyes_."

"I like to think we're better than they are, that we know what true loyalty is. That when a pack mate comes to you for help," Ma slams her fist onto the floor, "you are willing to lay down your life for them instead of killing them for it."

Ma takes a moment to look everyone in the eye before baring her fangs,

"So, are you better than a Hyuuga?"

The silence is deafening; no one even makes a move to fidget.

"Well I know _I_ am," a voice that can only be Uncle Taro calls out.

It causes a domino effect instantly.

"What, you think you're better than _me_? I'm damn well better than a Hyuuga!"

"I know the meaning of loyalty!" "We're not no child torturers!" "We'll take them all on if we have to!"

"Oi, maggots!" Ma calls.

Everyone's attention is pulled towards the Inuzuka leader.

"Princess here has a few words she wants you to hear."

Ma leans back against Kuromaru, and the spotlight is diverted to Hinata.

"I-I," Hinata swallows, "know I'm asking a lot from you, more than I should."

She hangs her head, and he thinks she's going to give up. He can't make a move towards her no matter how much he wants to.

And then she surprises him.

"But no matter what!" Hinata shouts suddenly.

"No matter what," she says picking her head up, "I will pave the path for the Hyuuga."

Her eyes are intense, and he can feel the strength radiating off of her.

"Whether I am the clan head or the clan traitor, I will make sure the Hyuuga will not get away with their sins. I will find a way to end the suffering!"

Her chest is heaving, and her hands have curled up into fists. He has never felt prouder.

"You have taught me the meaning of pack and I will take that with me, no matter the way I go," she says softly.

"I ask that you stand with or against the Hyuuga. I ask that you stand with me, and I will stand with you."

He almost expects her to throw herself into a bow, but she doesn't. Instead, she keeps her head held high, back straight.

A dare, he thinks, she's daring them to say no.

He can't stop the grin on his face when he hears the first howl. It goes wider when he hears Sakura start the next howl beside him.

He waits until he's sure everyone but Ma has joined before Akamaru and he join too.

Ma and Kuromaru bring up the end and are the last ones heard when everyone's howl dies off.

"Now that, _that's_ out of the way, it's time to get down to business," Ma says.

Ma jabs a thumb over her shoulder, "Kiba, take your meeting with the Aburame upstairs. I'll let everyone know the result of that later."

He nods and knocks his shoulder with Shino; Akamaru jumps out of his arms, and they head for the stairs.

"Pink brat, go with him. Princess, it's your meeting too, I'd advise you to be there," Ma barks.

He leads them to his room and flops onto the bed with a sigh, Akamaru lands next to him. He throws up a hand and waves it around lazily.

"Feel free to join me on the bed or sit on the floor. This shouldn't take too long."

Sakura leads Hinata to the bed, and he scoots over, forcing Akamaru to move too. Shino decides to stand, hands in pockets.

He knows the Aburame is thinking hard, but he also knows his teammate well enough to know he's already made up his mind.

"Should you fail the exams," Shino starts, "there is a high probability you will gain the seal. Why? Because you have an unsealed sister as an option should you bring dishonor upon the Hyuuga name."

Hinata takes a shuddering breath beside him, and he really wishes he could _slice some throats right now_.

"To do that to their own heiress?" Sakura seethes next to Hinata.

Akamaru makes a biting remark, and he hums in agreement.

"Oi, Shino," he drawls, "what's the stance of the Aburame on this matter?"

"The Aburame are not connected or concerned with the inner-workings of another clan," Shino intones.

"Then what's _your_ stance?" He asks.

"I will personally help in the culling of the parasites if it becomes a problem," Shino informs him, sunglasses shining.

He grins.

"And if you become clan head?"

"Then the Aburame will stand with the Inuzuka," Shino informs him.

"Who will either stand with or against the Hyuuga. Awesome," he snorts.

"Hinata, what of Hanabi?" Sakura asks gently.

He flicks a concerned gaze towards his teammate; he expects to see her looking depressed.

He does not expect to see the grim smile on her face.

"I have already discussed this with her," Hinata says lowly. "If I leave, she will follow, and there will be no heirs left."

He blinks and looks over at Sakura before looking at Shino. They look as bewildered as he probably does.

"You didn't ask for Hanabi's protection," he accuses.

"But you will protect her, if I claim her as my own. If I become Inuzuka," Hinata says without looking at him.

"Sneaky," he huffs.

"But," he reflects, "I already knew you wouldn't leave only to sic the Inuzuka on her. You're family now, which means-"

He grimaces.

"Which means Hanabi is family too, even if she always makes rude remarks about my heritage."

"She'll stop, I'll make her stop," Hinata promises.

They sit in silence for a moment, the only sound made is from Sakura rummaging under his bed for his hidden stash of candy.

"I believe you are forgetting something," Shino suddenly says. "What is it? That Hinata hasn't lost the finals yet."

Sakura pops back up with a victorious sound, clutching a shopping bag.

"Yeah," she says, passing out the candy, "I know Naruto too, so it's not like I can't tell you what to expect."

Hinata makes a strangled sound, one he can actually interpret.

"Sakura's Inuzuka too, so she is actually obligated to help you train," he says amused. "Naruto wouldn't hold it against either of you."

"Naruto specializes in quick thinking strategies and surprising his opponent. It is highly unlikely that preparing for his known tendencies will guarantee a victory. How do I know this? Sasuke said as much," Shino adds.

Akamaru barks out a comment that bares repeating.

"And you know," he translates, "Naruto would _adore_ you if you gave him a challenge as an equal."

He doesn't know what goes through her head, but Hinata goes beet red. She fiddles with a piece of candy.

"Yeah," Sakura picks up, "he would. You're all he talks about right now. I can't count how many times he's said _Hinata_."

It's too much, and Hinata slumps, candy piece falling out of her hand and onto the floor.

"Oi, Hinata!"

They get Hinata onto her feet and send her home with the promise to see her tomorrow. Sakura walks her home, leaving Akamaru and him alone with Shino.

If questioned about being held up in an Inuzuka meeting, Hinata's been told to say it was for the training agreement as well as discussing giving her unrestricted access to the compound.

It's not a small thing, nor is it a lie.

He decides to lead Shino to the ceremony room.

"I've got something to say."

Akamaru and he take a seat where Ma usually sits; it feels weird and slightly uncomfortable. He gestures for Shino to sit across from him.

His teammate takes a formal sitting position and waits.

"I'm letting you in on the secret," he says bluntly.

Shino sits as still as a statue, and he wonders if he's imagining the slight buzzing sound.

"Something's coming, and you need to know what you're up against. This mess on top of what's heading our way is just icing on the damn cake," he grouses.

He runs a hand through Akamaru's fur for strength and takes a breath.

"For the longest time, Sakura and I thought we were the only ones with an extra set of memories," he plunges in.

"We remember lives of a different time and a different world all together. We lived in different places, but we both enjoyed a book series called, _Naruto_."

He racks his brain for the best way to phrase this. He stumbles on something of an idea.

" _A story, one about a lonely, stupid boy who wants to be the greatest ninja_ ," he quotes meaningfully.

He thinks he sees Shino move slightly.

"I remember that one of my favorite parts of the story was when Konoha was invaded during the Chunin Exams by Orochimaru and Suna, the Hokage died, and it turns out Gaara was an insane jinchuuriki."

Alright, maybe that was a little too much, but he thinks he can see Shino connecting some dots.

"Sasuke gets lured away by Orochimaru, an evil organization goes after all the jinchuuriki, and Konoha gets caught in the crossfire because _apparently_ all the most evil ninja come from Konoha for some damn reason."

He rubs his face tiredly.

"Sakura and I worked hard for these coming events, but turns out there's more people who know the story. Ones who want to kill Sasuke, and ones who I have no idea what they want. Frankly, at this point, I'm guessing everything is about to go to hell and fall off into the unknown."

He reaches for Akamaru again and tries to come up with something else to say.

"Hisato."

He blinks at the bug-user across from him.

"He is another?" Shino asks.

"I think so, he knows about us and the story in any case," he replies, scratching his cheek.

Shino falls back into a stony demeanor.

He blows out a breath.

"As far as I know, we all just woke up one day and went, hey wait a minute, something's not right. It sounds crazy, but," he shrugs, "it's all I know at this point."

Sunglasses are shoved uncomfortably close to his face, and he blinks rapidly.

"You're leaving something out," Shino states.

"Yeah," he leans back warily, "a lot of things because it's a long story."

"Tell me all of it," Shino orders.

He groans but begins from the start. He doesn't touch much on the old memories and only stops when he realizes how late it's getting.

He sends Akamaru to Sis to inform her their meeting is still on-going and to tell the Aburame that Shino is spending the night.

Akamaru comes back with a bag of dinner and some snarky comments from his sister.

"And that's it," he says, throat unbearably dry. "That is _literally_ all I know."

Shino makes a humming sound.

"Bastard," he says falling backwards.

Shino hasn't said one word so far; it's more than unfair. His eyes feel heavy, and Akamaru is already sprawled out beside him, dead to the world.

The silence is unnatural, forcing him to focus on Akamaru's loud breathing.

His eyes close, and he's about to drift off, when—

"I believe you."

His eyes open against his will.

"You're unrolling your own futon," he states, dragging himself up.

Shino's already heading for the door, trash in hand. Akamaru is refusing to even move.

"Oi, wait for me, you bastard! Akamaru, come on already!" He whines.

He finally manages to get the ninken into something resembling a hold and makes his way to his room. He places Akamaru gently onto the bed, throws a folded futon at Shino's head, and curls up next to the ninken, not bothering to change his clothes.

"Two more weeks, huh?" He sighs into the pillow.

"You won't be alone."

He manages to roll himself to the edge of the bed to look down. Shino stares back at him from the floor, futon spread out and sunglasses off.

The Aburame looks sort of ridiculous, squatting there while holding a fluffy blanket in a fierce grip with the gravest of expressions on his face.

"I know," he tells him, "we're Team 8. We're unstoppable together."

Shino gives him a nod like he wasn't expecting to hear anything else and gets up to turn off the lights.

He drifts off thinking,

_Not even Konoha._


	5. No battle plan survives

“Where’s your armor, boy?”

He freezes mid-step and looks over his shoulder. Ma stands there looking unimpressed and a little bit aggravated. He swallows down any smart remarks.

“In my room,” he answers warily, “I’m getting Sakura, so we can put ours on together.”

Ma snorts,

“Hopeless without her, huh? Just make sure she’s wearing these correctly, had to correct a bunch of idiots about them earlier.”

Ma taps her hidden armguards, and he nods his understanding. Ma walks away with Kuromaru trailing behind her, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

He loves his mother, but tensions are running high at the moment. If she had decided to give him a good smack for some reason or another, he wouldn’t have been surprised.

Akamaru tells him they dodged a kunai.

“You mean an explosion tag,” he says dryly.

The walk out of the compound is more exciting than usual; they have to dodge randomly thrown equipment and frustrated clan members who want something to take their troubles out on.

“You’re not helping with the name calling,” he chides Akamaru.

The ninken says he’s just telling the truth.

He snorts and knocks on the door to Sakura’s house.

Sakura’s parents greet him, and he plasters on a smile while Akamaru plays distraction. It’s not usually a hassle, but his nerves are kind of shot at the moment. He manages to get away to knock on Sakura’s door.

The door is almost ripped off its hinges with how hard she opens it.

"It's _tomorrow_ ," Sakura breathes out before zipping towards her desk.

He steps in and watches her shove a roll of bandages into a pouch. He knows she's not talking about her match against Ino.

"Don't worry," he tells her, "we've got this."

"Who says I'm worried?" She growls.

He watches her slam a book down on her desk before throwing a handful of shuriken over her shoulder. They miss the bed and force him to dodge. He raises an eyebrow at her.

Sakura slams a few more items onto her desk before letting out a sigh.

"My parents," Sakura says quietly.

"My uncle's got it," he reminds her. "I mean it. So long as we stick together, it'll be fine."

"Kiba, I'm not worried he won't be able to get them to your house in time. I'm worried about how he'll do it," she laughs bitterly.

Uncle Taro has promised to subtly get her parents under the watchful eye of the Inuzuka by inviting them over for drinks after Sakura's match. He recalls how Uncle Taro's version of subtle usually goes and grimaces.

He decides not to say anything more.

"How's Ino taking it?" Sakura asks, changing the subject.

He thinks back on an earlier conversation with the Yamanaka.

_“I’ve got this. I’ve totally got this! She won’t see it coming,” Ino exclaims, pumping a fist._

_“Sure,” he humors her._

_Ino’s face rapidly pales._

_"She's not going to try to slice my hands off, right? I mean that was an accident, right?"_

_He leans back from eyes that are suddenly too close._

_"Sakura won't do anything permanent," he tries to comfort. "She actually likes you."_

"Nervous and excited," he decides.

"Oh good, I was afraid she might think I'd slice her hands off or something," Sakura says, relieved.

He wonders if she knows how terrifying she appears to be. The other Konoha genin are placing bets on her becoming a mad scientist or Anbu.

(He’s got them beat; 1000 ryo for head of hospital. The truly evil ones are always medics)

“You’ll go easy, right?” He says instead.

“For the hundredth time, _yes_ ,” she gives him an annoyed look, “I’m not that mean! Ino’s specialized in capture and sabotage, not fighting. I won’t knock her out of the arena!”

“Just reminding you,” he grins as she rolls her eyes.

She huffs and begins working on a new pouch. He leans back against the wall and starts tapping his heel against the floor. He can hear the muffled sound of her mother talking to Akamaru.

“You need to come over and put on your armor,” he tells her when she starts slowing down.

“It’s finished then?” She looks at him in surprise. “I was wondering about that. They kept redoing it to the point I thought we wouldn’t have it for tomorrow.”

“Blame cousin Sode, she was over the moon about recreating the traditional clan armor. She wouldn’t let it go until it was perfect,” he snorts, remembering the loud arguments between his cousin and mother.

“Let me finish, and then we’ll go,” she tells him. “Well, after we pry Akamaru from my mother. I can hear her gushing from _here_.”

He’s about to go back to impatiently waiting against the wall when he realizes something. Making his way to her dresser, he opens it and starts digging.

“What are you doing?” Sakura fingers a shuriken meaningfully.

“You’re going to need something to wear over your armor,” he tells her.

He spots what he’s looking for folded up near the bottom.

“What’s wrong with what I have on?” She asks, miffed.

Sakura’s been wearing his old jacket since the armor fittings began. He tries not to make a face.

“What isn’t?” He shoots back.

He holds up a red jacket.

“You’re going to need this.”

“I can’t wear that,” Sakura jerks back. “It’s a gift from Hana!”

“Yeah, to _wear_. To hide your armor from sight, you’ll have to wear the jacket over them,” he tells her.

“But—”

“Just wear the jacket,” he throws it at her in exasperation.

It’s a nice jacket; it even has the Haruno clan symbol embroidered on the back. To show her ties to the Inuzuka, the white collar tips are dyed red, making two fang marks hang around her throat.

It’s tailored perfectly for light armor underneath.

“Fine,” Sakura sighs in resignation.

She makes a disgruntled face but puts it on. He nods his head in approval.

“Sis will be happy to see you in it,” he remarks.

“Maybe,” Sakura allows, “but I still can’t get over the fact that it’s a ‘congrats for your first torture session’ gift.”

They both pause at that. It’s not a topic that comes up lightly.

“She didn’t mean it like that,” he tries to dispel the awkward silence. “She was just happy over your chakra control. She’s proud to be the one to teach you.”

Sakura’s lips thin.

“Your mother promised to take care of our ‘extreme methods.’ ” Sakura snorts, “I’d like to see the Hokage’s face if he ever realizes that your mother gave us a congratulatory dinner instead of disciplinary action.”

“Who says he doesn’t know?” He shrugs. “Ma doesn’t care about anyone that’s not Konoha. He has to have figured that out by now.”

There’s also that crystal ball of his, he doesn’t say. It’s one thing he’s never brought up to Sakura, and he’s not about to bring it up now.

“Should we care?”

He tilts his head in silent question.

“Should we care about anyone outside of Konoha?” She gives him a hard stare. “I know eventually the world unites in peace, but I don’t see it. All these people with blood on their hands, all this hate, how can we just forget it?”

“It takes a common enemy,” he reminds her, “and people change.”

“You say that, but three of our people are dead,” Sakura scowls. “One of them was a kid! We both know who’s responsible, and he’s going to try to kill us tomorrow! And we’re just supposed to be _friends_ with him?”

She shoves a kunai violently into the weapon pouch, and he scratches the back of his head. It would be nice if Gaara changed for the better, but—

“We’re not supposed to be anything,” he reminds her. “We’re writing this story as we go.”

“I know,” Sakura blows out a breath, “and I’m terrified. What if we ruin everything?”

“Then we do,” he tells her. “It’s not like we can control everything. Neji’s proof of that.”

Sakura grimaces at the reminder.

“That poor bastard, he’s even more screwed up than before.”

“You mean poor Shikamaru,” he says dryly. “He’s the one stuck with a stalker, and we both know Hyuuga stalkers can’t be gotten rid of.”

“I think Chouji has it worse.” Sakura refutes. “He’s torn between wanting to run away from an unhinged Neji and wanting to stay to protect Shikamaru.”

They give each other a look, before letting out inappropriate giggles. It really shouldn’t be as funny as it is.

He lets her finish packing in peace, and the moment Sakura’s finished, he’s out the door to save Akamaru. Bidding her parents a farewell, they head to the compound.

It’s just as chaotic as he left it. Thankfully, Akamaru listens to him and doesn’t try to antagonize anyone this time. Unfortunately, he didn’t think to beg Sakura not to.

“Hey, watch where you’re throwing things, you jerk! Do you _want_ me to come over there?” She yells, waving a fist.

He manages to grab the back of her jacket before she takes off.

“You do not want to see my ugly!” Sakura threatens.

He rolls his eyes and drags her towards his house. They make it without incident, if only barely. Thankfully Ma’s too busy yelling at hapless clan members to pay attention to them scurrying off to his room.

Cousin Sode has already presented both Sakura’s and his armor to him; the pieces are already waiting for them on his bed. 

Sakura freezes the moment he tries to hand over her armguard.

“It’s _pink_.”

He blinks down at the armor piece in his hand.

“So?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Why,” Sakura draws out, hissing, “is it pink?”

He doesn’t get it at first.

“Because it is?” He tries.

Sakura makes another hissing noise at him. He’s not quite sure how to handle this one.

“Cousin Sode probably thought it was cute? She even engraved some cherry blossoms into it,” he says, pointing at the delicate flowers on the armguard.

It really is pretty, he thinks. He wishes he had something more unique like it instead of the vague fang pattern on his.

“It’s armor. _It’s pink_ ,” she says, gravely offended.

Sakura looks like she’s close to spitting acid, and he gives up trying to understand her.

“Just put it on. No one’s going to see it,” he tells her, shoving the armguard at her.

Sakura takes it reluctantly, and they spend the next fifteen minutes suiting up. Most of that time is spent correcting each other and arguing over who’s right. Akamaru eventually calls them idiots and tells them they’ve both got the ties on the cuirass wrong.

They sit on his bed when they’re done, quiet and pensive. Akamaru lies next to him, making no noise.

“I noticed there were some new scrolls hanging up around the compound,” Sakura says, trying to find something to fill the silence.

“Yeah, Ma put them there,” he tells her. “It’s the five momentous steps in a ninja’s life. The clan’s version anyway.”

“But that’s not what they say,” Sakura frowns. “It’s supposed to go, ‘Entering the academy, graduating, your first kill, teaching the new generation, and then death.’ “

She picks at the shoulder strap on her cuirass.

“Why’s it different?”

“It’s the original version, before the Hokage, before Konoha,” he tells her. “Birth, Open eyes, First Hunt, Consumption, Death.”

“Consumption?” Sakura stops.

“Ma wants to go back to our roots, so she’s using the old version to push the idea,” he scratches the back of his head.

“There used to be this thing where we ate people—” he begins.

“Are we eating people now?” Sakura asks in alarm.

“Nah, we’re using the alternate version. Instead of eating a worthy rival, we’ll consume their spirit instead,” his eyebrows furrow, “or something. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to take that literally or not.”

Sakura looks like she has something to say about that only for her shoulders to droop.

"Just so long as we don't start eating people," Sakura eventually settles on.

He thinks about the long, dark history of his clan, and then he thinks about the faces the Hyuuga elders would make at such a display.

"I make no promises," he tells her.

Sakura makes a face but doesn’t say anymore on the issue. She probably understands he’s not kidding.

“So, you’ve warned your new friend?” Sakura asks, changing the topic.

“Yep,” he replies, “sort of anyways. I gave Kenny a hint that things might get dicey enough to pack up early.”

“I can’t believe he lets you call him Kenny,” Sakura says in disbelief.

“Well, when you eat there almost every day,” he grins.

“Right,” she rolls her eyes, “so long as you can save the pizza man, right?”

“It’s what true heroes do,” he says solemnly.

The good mood doesn’t last long.

“I can’t believe we managed to get the Hokage to estimate tomorrow’s attack,” Sakura speaks quietly. “I can’t believe we did it, _us_.”

“We’re ninja, it’s what we do,” he reminds her.

“But is it really okay, what we’ve done?” Sakura frowns. “Your family’s got a blank check to arm themselves to the teeth. Konoha will think it’s for the invasion, but—”

Sakura grimaces and doesn’t complete that thought. He understands what she’s trying to say anyways.

The Inuzuka are in the middle of preparing for war, but it’s not just from external threats. Without really meaning to, Konoha has suddenly went from “home” to “place we’re currently living in.’ ”

It’s not his proudest achievement to be honest.

“One step at a time,” he eventually says, “we concentrate on surviving tomorrow for now. The clan won’t make the first bite until Hinata’s say-so.”

Which is potentially the day after, Akamaru reminds him. He makes a face at his partner.

Ma bursts into the room before he has a chance to say anything.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Ma barks at them, “This ain’t no time to rest!”

All three of them jump up from the bed instantly. The sheer speed they possess in getting downstairs would definitely impress their teachers.

Ma runs them through everything, low on patience and often getting side-tracked. Ma tells them where each clan member will be, where they’re expected to be (in the thick of things, Ma snorts), how to tell friendly fire from enemy fire, the best way to make a Suna ninja cry, etcetera.

They’ve already been over this hundreds of times, but he’s not about to say anything to his mother. One glance at Sakura tells him she knows better too. He battles to keep the whine in his throat and knows he’s in for the lecture of his life.

(His mother is no way, shape, or form overprotective. Now get that thought out of your damn minds already. Where’s your soldier pills, boy? Pinky, you take this medicine pouch right now or _so help me_.

Sis swings by and gives Sakura and him a commiserating look. Eventually his sister takes pity on them. They’ve got to eat and sleep, Sis persuades)

He walks Sakura home. They don’t say anything more about what the next day will bring, but they share a long, determined look.

They’re not going to be sitting idly by. They’re soldiers after all, and right now Konoha is his home.

Against all odds, he neither dreams nor gets woken up in the middle of the night.

The next morning comes without incident; the only odd thing out is the extra time it takes to get dressed. His armor sits heavy, but it won’t take long before he’s used to it.

Contrary to yesterday, Ma eats breakfast completely calm and unruffled. Sis wears a grumpy face and snaps at the smallest slight. If he didn’t know better, he’d say they switched personalities overnight.

“Kiba, take care of Akamaru,” Sis says sharply. “If I have to take care of him,” she trails off ominously.

“I got it,” he whines through the leftover chicken in his mouth.

“Akamaru, take care of Kiba,” Sis says next, “if I have to take care of him you will not want to come to your next appointment.”

It’s Akamaru’s turn to start whining. Ma just grins before throwing a piece of meat over her shoulder for Kuromaru to snap up. The Haimaru Brothers look on with pitiful expressions, but seem to know better than to bother their partner.

“I told Chouji I’d sit with him. I’m off,” he tells his mother once breakfast is over.

“Bite a Hyuuga for me,” Ma says in response.

He flashes a grin at his mother before leaving, Akamaru at his heels. The ninken is positively salivating over potential Akimichi food, and he rolls his eyes.

The amount of people heading to the stadium is amazing, and even the area outside of it is swarming with people. There’s so many different smells, he almost can’t stand it.

“Kiba, over here!”

Chouji waves at him near the entrance, and he throws up a hand in response. Akamaru lets out a low huff.

“Is that all you brought?” He asks for his partner.

The Akimichi looks down at the eight stacked bento in his arms.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll probably get up and get something during one of the intermissions,” Chouji says.

“I made sure to bring some dumplings for Akamaru though!” Chouji hurries to add.

Akamaru makes a pleased bark, and it’s all he can do from making a sarcastic quip.

“He appreciates it,” he manages to say instead. “Let’s go find a seat.”

They find a good place in the stands near the railing. Akamaru is at his feet already tearing into the dumplings, and Chouji places the bento in the empty seat next to him.

They’ve got a while before the first match begins, so they pass the time with small talk.

“How’s Ino and Shikamaru?” He asks.

He knows without a doubt the things Chouji loves to talk about most are food and his teammates. Chouji doesn’t disappoint and launches into the conversation with enthusiasm.

“Shikamaru acts like he doesn’t care, but he’s actually really nervous! And Ino, well…”

He sits back and relaxes. Akamaru does too as the ninken’s commentary is slow-going and less harsh than usual. The Akimichi transitions from topic to topic, and he only has to speak up every now and then.

It’s actually refreshing; he never gets to hang out with Chouji one on one. Chouji is rarely without Shikamaru, and Shino always seems to be there when the Akimichi is without his genius sidekick.

“Hey, look at that,” Chouji suddenly says.

He blinks and follows the Akimichi’s line of sight. Up and to the right is—

It’s Neji.

Hyuuga Neji sits apart from the rest of his clan, the ones that aren’t on security detail, face twisted in concentration. Undoubtedly the Hyuuga is watching Shikamaru’s every move even from here.

He feels a sympathetic twitch in his back.

“Can’t ever get a break, can you?” He asks, deadpan.

An uncharacteristic dark look appears on Chouji’s face as he opens a bag of chips.

“You have no idea,” Chouji crunches in a potato chip.

His eyes narrow as he realizes something. On Neji’s right is Tenten, whose face is consistently contorted into a “Why me” expression, but on his left—

“Where’s Lee?” He asks.

His back twitches again.

“No idea,” Chouji says, puzzled, “he said he’d be here. Said he’d support the reason for Neji’s youthful blossoming no matter what.”

It’s concerning. He hasn’t forgotten that Hisato is here, or that Lee had probably been sabotaged by the Grass ninja in the preliminary.

“Of course,” Chouji scowls again, “I wouldn’t have put it past Neji to have snapped and murdered him.”

He taps his hidden armguard. Where is Lee?

“Nah,” he reassures the Akimichi, “Neji wouldn’t get rid of his best sparring buddy.”

He frowns as his back keeps twitching. It’s not just Hisato that could have something against the genin, there’s also Gaara.

Though he’s not sure they ever met, Gaara has already killed three people. Orochimaru wouldn’t take interest in a boy with no chakra, so Lee’s safe on that front.

“Maybe he’s just late or is buying some snacks,” Chouji offers.

He blows out a breath and wishes he knew a way to keep track of his fellow ninja. His back twitches again, and he finds he can take it no longer.

“Maybe. I’m going to get some snacks. You want any?” He asks.

Chouji’s eyes light up and he almost wishes he never said anything.

He only takes a few steps down the staircase before he recognizes he’s being followed. He keeps going, and Akamaru alerts him when the coast is clear.

“Alright, come on out,” he calls to his shadow.

Hinata’s sister peeks out from the stairs above him. Blank eyes look down at him in disdain, and he holds back a sigh.

“Are we going to have this conversation in the stairwell, or should we take it to the hallway?” He asks.

“I’m supposed to be getting takoyaki,” Hanabi sniffs.

“Alright, let’s walk together then,” he says with a grimace.

He knows with certainty her father is watching every move she makes with his Byakugan. In fact, most of the Hyuuga probably are. With this many enemy ninja around, they’d be an idiot not to.

He tries to remember this when she passes him, shoving him into the wall. They’ve got to act like normal which means she acts like an utter brat with him barely tolerating her.

Akamaru huffs at almost being stepped on, and he withholds another sigh.

“So, care to tell me why you’ve been trying to get my attention?” He asks.

“I need to talk to you,” Hanabi says, walking in front of him. “You may be a filthy mutt, but you’re my sister’s teammate.”

“I’m so glad I fail your standards,” he says dryly. “Last thing Hinata needs is another snobby Hyuuga on the team.”

Hanabi comes to a sudden stop. He almost trips trying to maintain a good distance from her. He honestly can’t afford to have his chakra blocked.

“What?” He asks irritably.

Whirling around, Hinata’s sister glares up at him,

“Big Sis is in trouble! Are you going to help or not?”

“Of course, what do you take me for?” He snorts. “Hinata’s not just my teammate, she’s my friend. Like hell I’d let her just do this alone!”

The angry expression on Hanabi’s face falters.

“Even if it means going against my father?” She whispers.

Oh, damn, he thinks. He’s not prepared for the “your family has betrayed your sister, so I’ll probably kill them all” speech. He’s unable to say anything of that nature to the girl’s face, so he settles on committing treason.

“Even if it’s against Konoha, I promise you. I will help your sister,” he utters after making sure he can’t smell anyone nearby. 

The Hyuuga doesn’t seem to know what to make of that and an interesting amount of expressions cross her face before settling on anguish.

“I was there when they said they would—” Hanabi chokes.

“They said they would—while I watched—they—”

“Hanabi!” He cuts her off before giving her a stern look. “Watch it. The walls have ears and _all-seeing eyes_.”

Hinata’s sister gives him the most heart-rending look. Her tiny shoulders seem to slump in defeat. He grimaces, unsure of what to say.

They’ve never gotten along. Hanabi looks down on him as she’s taught to and is maybe jealous of the time he spends with Hinata. All he’s ever seen is a small Hyuuga brat not worth his time.

It hurts to admit, but Hanabi is just like him. They both adore their older sisters and are the favorite to inherit. The key difference, he knows, is how their respective families treat them.

Hana’s never wanted to become clan head and has found another way to contribute her time. Gods forbid the Hyuuga let Hinata do the same.

“Your sister’s working on it,” he eventually says. “Shino and I will back her up no matter how it goes down. Believe in her.”

“Believe in her?” Hanabi repeats almost brokenly.

“Yep,” he nods, “it’s one thing to hurt her. It’s another to hurt someone she loves. Big Sis already has something in the works. All you have to do is believe in her.”

He’s not sure where the Hyuuga is looking at, but it’s not at him. A thoughtful expression crosses Hanabi face.

She slowly nods,

“I will believe in Big Sis.”

To his surprise, she gives him a familiar, vicious grin.

“And if she needs me, I already know how to activate a really useful hand seal.”

He grins back just as viciously.

They go get takoyaki before parting ways. He has to shop for the rest of Chouji’s snacks, and if he stops to grab a slice of pizza, well.

He makes it back in time for Hinata’s match. There’s no way he’s missing it. Akamaru sits on top of his head for a better view, and Chouji chomps down on the rest of his home-made food.

They line up the contestants as the Hokage makes his speech. Sasuke is missing, and Sakura seems to be arguing with Naruto. Shino, hands in pockets, is glaring at Hisato who keeps making faces back.

Hinata seems to be pretending to drown in her jacket. Shikamaru slouches with an irritated expression next to Ino who seems to be the only one aware that there is a crowd watching them.

The children of the Kazekage all stand there impassively.

“How do you think Hinata will do?” Chouji asks as they watch the examiner usher the contestants into a side room.

“Awesome,” he says firmly, “she’s going to do awesome.”

“She looks kind of like she’s going to be sick,” Chouji says worriedly.

He doesn’t say anything to that because Hinata does, in fact, look like she’s about to pass out. Gekko Hayate coughs and gestures to the two to take their places.

“Let’s do this thing! Hope you’re ready Hinata!” Naruto shouts, pumping a fist.

It doesn’t seem to reassure Hinata; if anything it makes her go a shade paler. He reminds himself to breathe.

Vaguely, he wonders if there are seals amplifying the sound of the arena. He wasn’t able to hear Sakura chewing out Naruto before.

“Just think of it as a spar!” Naruto grins, throwing a thumb up.

He lets out a growl, and Chouji side-eyes him nervously. Never has he wanted to smack the idiot more than he does now. Naruto is, as always, oblivious to Hinata’s pain.

“Oi, Hinata,” he yells, “wipe that stupid look off his face!”

“Hey!”

Funnily enough, Naruto makes a stupid face in response.

“Show him who’s boss, Hinata!” Chouji calls from beside him.

Hinata seems shocked at their support. He wishes she wouldn’t be. It turns out it’s not their words that spur Hinata on.

“You can do it, Big Sis!” Hanabi screams, hands around her mouth like a megaphone.

Hiashi gives a disapproving look to his youngest daughter. Hanabi, who only has eyes for her sister, ignores him. He can’t help but grin.

One glance to the stands is all it takes for Hinata to strengthen her resolve. The Hyuuga falls into the Gentle Fist stance.

“N-Naruto,” She begins quietly, “w-we’re friends. I don’t want to hurt you, but even so-”

Hinata takes a breath and says something near silently before looking into Naruto’s eyes.

“I will do my best!” Hinata shouts. “You do your best too!”

The dumbfounded look on Naruto’s face is absolutely priceless. The knuckleheaded ninja breaks into a wide grin.

“Got it! Let’s show everyone what we’re made of!” Naruto yells, hands forming his signature technique.

Hayate coughs before calling out,

“Begin!”

Whether through fate or just Naruto being predictable, the fight goes exactly as expected. Naruto summons a legion of clones, and Hinata breaks through them as if they weren’t even there.

It’s not like he can fault either of them though. Naruto has less than a handful of techniques, and Hinata’s fighting style is the exact same as Neji.

The fight becomes a brutal taijutsu match with Naruto acting as the never-ending drunken fighters to Hinata’s classy martial artist.

It’s actually kind of thrilling to watch, almost like a movie really. The crowd thinks so too, if the hollering is anything to go by. Hinata looks to be the clear winner, but—

But, he thinks, this is Naruto.

It certainly seems like Hinata’s won after a particular vicious blow to the stomach puts Naruto onto the ground. His teammate stands over her opponent, palm out.

“Yield,” Hinata says calmly.

The Hyuuga is completely focused, she’s barely breathing hard. Naruto’s prone form doesn’t move.

“Yield,” Hinata repeats.

Naruto doesn’t say anything. Hayate looks like he’s about to call it when there’s a sudden chakra flare, bright and malicious. It’s coming from Naruto, he realizes.

Hayate freezes, and the stadium goes quiet. The silence around him is nothing compared to what he’s feeling. For a moment, everything seems to stop.

Are you really going to use _that_ against Hinata, his mind whispers. Would you really go that far, Naruto?

Then the flare of chakra disappears almost instantly. Naruto gets to his feet, leaning heavily against his knees. The blond, breathing hard, shakily points to Hinata.

“I’m not giving up! I’m not giving in! I’ll show you what I can do!”

He breathes again. Sound returns as the crowd around him seems to roar alongside Naruto. Hinata’s eyes are wide, but she nods and falls back into the Gentle Fist stance.

Naruto bites his thumb before going through a series of hand seals. Slamming his hand into the ground with a shout, a toad appears in a puff of smoke. It’s a familiar summon, an orange toad that wears a blue vest.

It’s also roughly the size of Akamaru. Chouji comments on the size out loud next to him.

“Hey,” it says blinking up at its summoner.

“What the—what’s a shrimp like you going to do?” Naruto screeches.

“Who you calling a shrimp, shrimp?” It yells back, waving a webbed hand.

“Tch, just help me out here!” Naruto orders.

The toad glances between Naruto and Hinata.

“What, you need help fighting a little girl?” The toad asks in disbelief.

“That’s Hinata, she’s a badass! I can’t get near her. You going to help or what?” Naruto scowls down at the toad.

“Pass.”

“Pass? What do you mean pass?” Naruto squawks in disbelief.

“Not going to do it. On your own kid. I don’t want to. _Pass_ ,” the summon says irritably.

“You little! Fine! Let me show you how a real ninja fights!”

Naruto grits his teeth and takes his rough brawler stance. Hinata doesn’t move an inch, but he knows she’s tracking every move.

With a war cry, Naruto launches himself at Hinata who sends him flying just as fast. Naruto bounces back and tries to go in for a sweep. Hinata kicks him into the side of the arena for his trouble.

The moron is able to pick himself up without much effort. Chouji cheers on Hinata from beside him.

He can’t help but think if Naruto actually dedicated his time to learning a real fighting style, he’d be unstoppable. It’s actually unfair how quickly Naruto can recover.

Naruto summons even more clones and launches himself at Hinata once more. Hinata destroys them in seconds.

“He’s already tried that. He’s just going to get himself knocked out,” Chouji scoffs.

If it was anyone but Naruto, he’d agree to that sentiment. As it is, he can already see the beginning of the end.

Hinata, he thinks regrettably, it’s over.

He wonders if his teammate can see the same thing. Instead of trying to keep her opponent away, she seems to be trying to get to his arms almost desperately.

Hinata takes out her opponents left leg, and Naruto falls face-first to the ground with his hands under him. Naruto manages to summon more clones even as he’s forced to eat the dirt.

This time the clones appear in every direction, and Hinata has to defend herself from an attack at every angle.

Naruto summons another wave of clones, and he sees the endgame before it happens.

Below, he silently urges Hinata, _look below_. Naruto’s used the newest clones arrival as a cloak. That Naruto still lying on the ground is definitely a fake.

It’s not to be.

Hinata is not Neji. For how ever good she is, she’s still a genin, and there’s a limit to her ability. She simply can’t concentrate on everything at once, not yet.

Naruto pops out of the ground beneath her, and lands a good solid hit on her back that sends her flying. Her head makes a particularly loud crack against the ground.

He winces and even Chouji hisses between his teeth. Akamaru makes a whine so heartbreaking; he pets the ninken to comfort him.

Naruto doesn’t say anything and waits.

A hushed silence falls over the stadium. Everyone holds their breath.

Hinata slowly moves, and he almost sags in relief. His teammate gets to her feet, and her expression is so fierce, it looks like she’s going to continue fighting.

Naruto and Hinata stare at each other, and he wonders what they’re saying in their silence.

“I yield,” Hinata says, lifting an arm.

“Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!” Hayate coughs.

“Huh, not bad,” the summon, having stayed to watch the fight, disappears in a puff of smoke.

He lets out a breath. It’s over. Hinata lost.

Sudden noise makes him jump. Startled, he looks around; everyone seems to be cheering. The Hyuuga stand out for remaining silent, looking down at the arena with shocked expressions.

It is, he notes, not Naruto they’re looking at with surprise.

“That was awesome!” Chouji yells into his ear. “You were right, Hinata was awesome!”

His eyes go to the stoic face of the Hyuuga clan head. Hiashi stands up and leaves quickly, startling Hanabi who follows after. Maybe it’s not as desperate a situation as he thought.

Hinata is directed towards a side room, and Naruto goes with her. Naruto’s eyes never leave her, and a thought hits him. It’s only a slight suspicion, but perhaps Hinata’s crush isn’t as one-sided as he fears.

Either way, Naruto is almost as protective as he is when it comes to his friends. His teammate is in good hands.

Chouji decides to give a blow by blow account of the fight. He listens to it with half an ear. Akamaru wants to go see Hinata, but he hushes the ninken with a few scratches above the ears.

Hinata, he knows, will be fine for the moment. He’s got a bad feeling, and it’s not for his teammate.

He looks down at the arena with narrow eyes.

Sakura and Ino are quick to take their places. Ino does a good job masking her nervousness, but Sakura’s confidence is completely genuine.

“Sakura should be able to win this no problem,” he tells himself.

“Don’t underestimate Ino,” Chouji warns.

He tilts his head in acknowledgement but doesn’t say anything. Sakura is leagues above Ino in fighting ability. Ino really will be lucky to even get in a hit.

So why does he have such a bad feeling about this fight?

“Begin!” Hayate calls.

Sakura dashes towards Ino, and throws back her fist. The Yamanaka dodges the first punch but can’t avoid the next one. Sakura brings up a knee and catches Ino in the stomach.

He winces as Sakura roundhouse kicks Ino to the dirt. Holding back indeed, he thinks wryly.

He understands what Sakura is doing though. This match will be a pure taijutsu fight. Sakura doesn’t want to hurt Ino, but she can’t risk giving her opponent room to use her Mind Body Switch technique.

Sakura’s chakra nails are designed for maiming; she’s not about to bring them out against friends. Anything else Sakura can do is straight up lethal; throwing a punch is the safest method for everyone involved.

Ino aims a kick at Sakura’s ankles from her position on the ground, and Sakura jumps over it effortlessly. A sweep kick forces Ino to roll away and get to her feet.

The Yamanaka is already getting winded, if her hunched shoulders are any indication. Sakura frowns and lets Ino take the initiative.

Ino charges with a punch that is blocked and gets elbowed in the stomach for her trouble. While Ino gasps for breath, Sakura punches the Yamanaka so hard in the face there’s an audible crack; the crowd around him lets out a collective groan of sympathy.

Ino hits the ground face-first, and Sakura makes no move other than to stare down at her opponent. No doubt she’s trying to figure out the best way to get the girl to yield.

He resolutely does not look at Chouji. It has to hurt to see your teammate beaten up in a one-sided fight.

If Hinata had looked like the clear winner in her match against Naruto, it’s nothing compared to Sakura’s match against Ino.

Of course, Naruto always has something up his sleeve, something that turns the tide at the last moment. It’s not like Ino’s known for doing the same thing.

His train of thought comes to a crashing halt.

Ino’s too passive, he realizes. Sakura really is going easy on the girl; Ino should have been able to land some hits.

Shit, he thinks, it’s a trap.

Just as Sakura takes a step forward, Ino clamps her legs around Sakura’s ankle and rolls over. Sakura doesn’t go down, but it gives Ino a moment to clasp her hands together.

“Got you,” Ino smiles.

Hands together in the famous Yamanaka seal, Ino passes out and Sakura stands rigid. Almost everyone in the stands go silent, waiting to see what happens next.

“She’s got her! It’s over now!” Chouji cheers.

He fights the urge to get up and run to the railing. Akamaru has no such scruples and leaps off his head to get as close to the arena as possible.

Sakura, under the control of Ino, starts raising her hand.

“Winner—”

“Sorry, but no.”

Sakura brings up her head and _smiles_. It’s a terrifying smile, one that he’s never seen on Sakura’s face before.

“Thought you won, Ino?”

Ino comes back to herself with a violent spasm, and Sakura looks down at the blonde with amusement. He feels like he’s been punched in the chest.

Chouji says something, but he can’t hear it. The sudden cheer of the crowd is enough to deafen him.

It doesn’t matter what the Akimichi is trying to say, or that his ears are ringing. His eyes never leave Sakura’s form.

There is something very wrong.

“I’m giving up now, Mr. Referee,” Sakura practically sings. “Can’t go on without chakra, can we?”

That statement makes no sense. Sakura should have plenty of chakra.

“Alright then,” Hayate narrows his eyes before coughing, “go.”

Medics with a stretcher appear, and Sakura all but skips to the exit. He can’t get out of his seat fast enough. He ignores Chouji’s concerned cries and dashes down the stairs with Akamaru charging ahead of him.

Akamaru leads him; he’s too upset to search himself, too scared. There’s something very wrong with her scent, Akamaru tells him.

He hears Sakura before he sees her. She’s singing softly to herself about matricide. That’s—that’s definitely not normal.

“Sakura,” he slides to a halt, “what’s wrong?”

“Oh,” she tilts her head, “hello Kiba.”

She gives him a dreamy smile, and he lets out an aggravated sound.

“What’s up with you?” He asks urgently.

“What’s up with you?” She repeats, tapping her chin. “Up with you. With you. With me?”

“Sakura!” He yells.

Hisato, he thinks with alarm, she’s been in the same room as Hisato. Has she been drugged? Poisoned?

“Relax,” she gives him another dreamy smile, “it’s all good. Sky’s not going anywhere.”

Definitely drugged, he thinks.

“We’re going to the hospital,” he grabs her wrist.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Sakura sing songs.

“And why not?” He asks through gritted teeth.

“Because it’ll be the first place smashed!”

Alright, so she’s not completely gone. He almost forgot about that.

“Then where am I supposed to take you? How am I supposed to fix you?” He asks desperately.

“Silly Kiba,” she laughs, “you can’t do anything.”

Fear hits him.

“But—”

“What do you smell?” Sakura says suddenly.

“What?” He blinks at her.

“Smell me!” Sakura giggles.

“You,” he takes a sniff, “you smell like Yin chakra.”

He lets go of her and sniffs her again.

“You smell like nothing _but_ Yin chakra.”

“I have a lot of spirit,” she tells him straight-faced before breaking out into a grin.

“I don’t understand,” he says.

It’s true that Sakura has always smelled like excess Yin chakra but never to this point.

“Your spirit’s covered in dirt,” Sakura waves her hands around. “Mines not. Only had a little bit of soil. It’s gone now.”

Dirt, he frowns, what is she talking about? Sakura makes a telescope with her right hand and peers through it.

“Some can use their spirit to see death, some use it to see minds, but now I am it,” she informs him.

Akamaru gives him an idea. Earth and Heaven, the ninken barks.

“Wait, are you saying,” he speaks slowly, “that Ino somehow cut off your physical chakra?”

Sakura claps her hands together.

“Yin went out and sang, Yang left with a bang,” she sings.

“Shit,” he says rubbing his forehead.

“ _Shit_ ,” he says again with feeling.

“The world’s full of it!” Sakura croons.

“I’m taking you to my house, and we’ll figure something out,” he says, grabbing her wrist again.

He starts pulling her towards the exit, and she doesn’t try to resist.

“You don’t have time,” Sakura reminds him with a smile. “The dance starts soon.”

“I need you,” he says desperately.

“The soil will come back eventually. Just not for the dance,” she reassures.

He blows out a breath.

“Don’t worry, you’ve got Akamaru and Shino. It’ll be fine.”

It sounds so much like the normal Sakura; he stops and looks behind him.

“Did you know you have a lot of spirit too? It probably tastes like blood,” Sakura says with a vacant expression.

His shoulders slump, and he starts the long trek home. The walk to his house ends up being impossibly long, longer than he can ever remember.

It doesn’t help that every clan member stops him the moment he reaches the compound. Some even try to keep him from going any further as if Sakura is a threat.

“If you stay in my way, I’m going to go through you one way or the other,” he warns them while Akamaru growls.

His clan members decide that pissing him off is not a good idea, and they do eventually get to the house.

Unfortunately, Sakura’s parents are already there. They practically descend on him, claws out, the moment Sakura opens her mouth and utters something nonsensical.

No explanation seems good enough for them. He grits his teeth to keep from physically lashing out.

“Her chakra’s unstable,” he almost snarls, “she needs to rest. Stop her from using anything that requires chakra. Keep her here and away from any ink.”

He turns on his heel and stomps out. Both Akamaru and he let out a howl that echoes throughout the compound.

It’s not the normal howl—the one of solidarity—it’s a threat. This is his house, and if anything happens to Sakura or her parents under their watch, he will make them wish they were never born.

We’ve got this, Akamaru reminds him.

“I know,” he tells the ninken, “but I was counting on Sakura’s help.”

It’s supposed to be Sakura and him against the world. They’ve been preparing for this day for a long time. The fact that his other partner has been thrown out of the battle before it even begins—it leaves an uneasy feeling in his gut.

He is, however, nothing if not adaptable.

“Let’s go,” he says, determined. “We’ve got a fight to win.”

They head back to the stadium, running fast and hard. Two guards let him and Akamaru through without a problem, and he feels relieved to know he hasn’t missed anything yet.

“Winner, Temari.” He hears while climbing the stairs.

His old seat is still empty, but Chouji is already gone. He wonders if the Akimichi left to check on Ino, or if Chouji found someone else to sit with. Akamaru jumps up and takes the seat for himself.

“Finally,” half the crowd around him mutters. “I can’t believe he gave up,” the other half says in disbelief.

He gathers from the irritated audience that Shikamaru has kept to the script and used the lowering of the sun to strengthen his shadows. Shikamaru doesn’t know it, but the shadow-user has bought him precious time.

He leans forward and tries to slow the beating of his heart. Shino will be okay, he tells himself. It’s Gaara and Orochimaru who’s the real threat.

He can almost believe it too.

Shino and Hisato take their place in the arena. Hayate stands between the two, coughing.

“Begin,” Hayate says.

Hisato throws an arm up immediately.

“I give up!” Hisato shouts.

He blinks, and Akamaru lets out an incredulous bark. The audience sits in stunned disbelief. Shino’s body language all but screams rage.

“I mean, why fight with regulations when we can have a real fight?” Hisato smiles ominously.

A shiver goes down his spine.

“It’s time to start the show,” Hisato says looking straight at the Kazekage. “Isn’t that right, Lord Orochimaru?”

Silence descends, and then so do feathers. For a moment, it entrances him, and he can feel his body relaxing against his will. His eyelids close, and he hears the whisper of sleep echo through his mind.

I don’t think so, he thinks.

Kurenai-sensei has taught him far beyond the basic dispel technique. He’s ready to snap the genjutsu when he feels a sharp pain go through his neck.

“I’ve got the Inuzuka boy. Hurry up and find the girl.”

It’s the last thing he hears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! I have beaten the hard drive crash. As always, will go over this in a few hours and correct any remaining mistakes.


	6. First contact with the enemy

Strong killer intent wakes him. The very air around him is thick with malicious and deadly chakra that smothers him. Wakes is probably too strong a word as he’s barely able to crack his eyes open.

Not that he can actually see anything; everything’s too blurry.

It’s difficult to think, let alone move, but he can make out that he’s wrapped around something. What feels like straps dig into his thighs. His face is pressed against what he thinks is skin.

Air rushes past his ears, and he realizes he’s unable to smell anything. That should be more concerning, but everything is hazy. He’s not able to feel much of anything right now.

“Leaf ninja, four o’clock.”

He feels something wrap around the straps on his legs, and he realizes his wrists are tied together. His arms are wrapped around—a neck?

It takes him a long moment for him to put it all together. He’s tied to someone’s back. He’s being carried piggyback style.

It’s not by an ally.

“What do you think you’re doing with that genin?” A voice calls, young and male.

He can’t ever recall hearing it before.

“The enemy poisoned him,” a new voice to his left pipes up. “We’re getting him to the medics stationed to the South wall.”

“I see,” the voice from earlier says.

He thinks that the person to his left is on the old side, also male. That person is also very likely an enemy impersonating a ninja from Konoha. He hopes the real Konoha ninja doesn’t come down with a sudden case of death.

“That’s an Inuzuka, right?” The actual Konoha ninja asks. “Where’s his dog?”

“Dead. Killed by Suna ninjas,” is the response from the person carrying him.

His heart stops.

The vibrations of those words enter his brain. Dead, his mind echoes, dead, dead, dead. Akamaru is—

“You know,” the real Leaf ninja starts slowly, “I would be inclined to believe you if that boy’s partner hadn’t come and got me.”

He feels the body beneath him stiffen.

Akamaru is not dead. Akamaru is alive and trying to rescue him. He latches onto that with everything he has.

“And I might would go easy on you **if that wasn’t my student you have there** ,” the Konoha ninja finishes with an inhuman guttural.

His breath hitches. _Kurenai-sensei!_

“Shit!” The man to the left of him shouts.

The body beneath him shudders. He has no idea what’s going on, but he has no doubt his teacher’s genjutsu skills are coming into play.

He hears the screech of metal on metal and hissing sounds. Loud booms go off near him, and he wonders if these sounds are techniques. He wonders how his teacher is doing.

He can feel the beginnings of frustration building. He wants to fight. He wants to be able to move.

“Fuck!” the ninja beneath him suddenly curses, stumbling.

His ignores the uncanny feeling of being forced to go along with someone else’s movement. Instead, he concentrates on the familiar growling and barking coming from below him.

_Akamaru!_

“Damn dog, I’ll kill you!”

He’s unable to snarl, but his partner is doing a pretty good job by himself. He’s actually impressed with how far Akamaru’s vocabulary has come.

“Go! I’ll hold them off!”

He feels an insane amount of chakra slide over his skin. Akamaru screams his name. Let me past, Akamaru barks before howling his name again.

“Get out of my way!” Kurenai-sensei yells.

He feels the air rush around him. The ninja he’s tied to dashes away from the screaming and the sound of battle. His eyes sting, and he still can’t see anything.

They’ll be okay, he knows. All of his precious people wield incredible strength.

He believes in both his teacher and his partner, but that doesn’t stop him from worrying. Kurenai-sensei, take care of Akamaru, he thinks.

As he’s carried away, he can hear the sound of battle going on all around him. One moment, it’s incredibly loud, and in another moment, it fades away.

A spike of irritation goes through him. He should be out there fighting. He’s supposed to be helping with the invasion, not playing rescue-the-princess. (It galls him that he’s the princess from a suddenly too real children’s game)

He’s unable to tell how much time passes, but it seems like forever. He’s in the middle of trying to get his chakra to respond to him when something swipes past him. It lands somewhere in front of them with a loud thud.

“Drop him.”

His kidnapper turns around. Trying to focus on the speaker, he can make out something of a dark blur.  He knows that voice.

“Now.”

It’s Sasuke.

He only has a moment to be baffled—why isn’t Sasuke with Gaara?—before the ninja he’s attached to takes off, seemingly doing random acrobatics. Something resembling vertigo gets to him. He tries to focus on breathing.

He’s used to spinning; he shouldn’t be having vertigo, he mentally grumbles.

“I see you saw through the ninja wire, but I bet you didn’t see through _this_.”

He takes a moment to appreciate the sheer amount of arrogance Sasuke is able to put into his voice. The next moment renders him deaf from _all the explosions going off around him_.

Are you trying to kill me, he mentally shrieks as heat grazes his ears. His face is all but smashing into the neck of the ninja he’s wrapped around.

His kidnapper doubles over before they’re both sent sprawling into the dirt. He lands heavily on his shoulder, head knocking against seemingly everything. He can’t seem to breathe with all this weight on top of him either.

That bastard, he thinks in disbelief, is actually trying to kill me.

His arms and legs are freed just as he’s silently telling Shino to avenge his death. The body is pulled off of him, and he sucks in as much air as he can.

“Can you move?” The blur above him asks.

He tries to give the best deadpan look he can. His eyes are barely open, and he can’t move his face. He thinks he gets the message across anyways.

“Right,” Sasuke says awkwardly, “you need a medic.”

No, duh.

“Hn, Sakura should be able to do something, but I haven’t seen her.”

It sounds like Sasuke is pacing next to him. He wonders what has the Uchiha riled up. All the other boy has to do is either take him to a medic or hide him somewhere until help can arrive.

Easy enough, so why isn’t Sasuke doing it?

“They wanted you alive. That guy was trying to protect you the whole time I fought him,” Sasuke says, thinking.

“The Inuzuka don’t do ransoms, everyone knows that. There’s no physical blood limit to take. If it’s for breeding purposes, then they wouldn’t have given you anything to damage your body. Too many drugs have a high chance of sterilization.”

He tries not to feel too uncomfortable at that train of thought. The Uchiha is wrong of course, but Sasuke is only pulling on the possibilities anyone in a clan faces each day.

“Your chakra might be able to burn it out. Sakura studied on how to push another’s chakra with her own. Those rabbits,”

Sasuke pauses before saying with an even tone,

“This will either help you or kill you.”

Before he can really think on that, Sasuke moves next to him. Bright green fills his limited sight, and then there’s a hand on his neck.

Chakra enters him, but it’s not the pure, clean feeling he’s accustomed to. This chakra isn’t as refined; it feels like jolts of electricity are going through him.

His neck feels like pain, and then suddenly so does everything else.

“The hell you doing?” He manages to hiss through stiff lips.

“Shut up,” Sasuke orders.

He’s acutely aware that one move will literally blow his head off. He also understands that Sasuke is not Sakura. He keeps quiet even as his body feels like it’s going to burst into flames.

The green light eventually fades along with the pain. He blows out of breath, unaware he’d been holding it.

“Try moving,” Sasuke demands.

He’s able to successfully twitch his fingers and toes. He can’t lift his head, but he feels strength returning to him. He finds he’s able to roll his eyes, which is good. He usually needs the ability when dealing with the Uchiha.

“Gimme a minute,” he slurs.

“We don’t have a minute,” Sasuke says.

Too bad, he thinks. It’s not like he can get up at the moment.

Vision and smell return to him slowly. The moment he’s able to pick up Sasuke’s scent is the moment he almost bursts into tears. Not that he does, he just didn’t realize how much he missed being able to smell.

The first thing he can see clearly is dark eyes. Sasuke stares down at him with a frown and only a finger tapping against a thigh shows how nervous the Uchiha is.

He looks around and is greeted with greenery as far as the eye can see. An experimental sniff tells him the closest people are quite a ways off. He comes to the conclusion that his kidnapper was successful in getting out of Konoha.

He opens his mouth to ask about the invasion, but what comes out instead is,

“You had no clue what you were doing, did you?” He accuses.

“Of course I did,” Sasuke scoffs.

He stares up at the Uchiha in disbelief.

“You could have killed or paralyzed me!”

“But I didn’t,” Sasuke smirks.

He gapes up at the other boy. Sasuke totally just tried an experimental medical technique on him!

“Going to kill you, going to kill you slowly,” he promises.

“Just try it, _dog_ ,” Sasuke sneers.

“Watch me, _cat_ ,” he growls back.

They both huff at the same time. Not that he grins at the bastard who smirks back or anything.

Right, time to get down to business, he thinks.

“Is everyone still fighting?” He asks.

“The Sand made their move,” Sasuke nods, completely serious, “but they’re being pushed back.”

A feeling of relief hits him, onto the next question then.

“So how did you know I was here?”

He doesn’t bother asking how Sasuke got in front of them to set up an ambush. Sasuke’s been away for speed training.

“Kakashi made us late,” Sasuke scowls, “and had me go to the South wall to protect the medics. I was there when your teacher dropped off Akamaru before trying to go after you.”

He narrows his eyes.

“Akamaru? Kurenai-sensei? What do you mean by ‘trying?’ ”

It doesn’t fill him with confidence when Sasuke visibly hesitates.

“Akamaru is unconscious but fine,” Sasuke says stony-faced. “Kurenai was ambushed on her way to you. She couldn’t even fight off the medics to go after you.”

He closes his eyes and lets out a breath.

“They’re both still alive?” He asks.

“Yes.”

He can work with that. He _has_ to work with that.

“Speaking of not being capable of fighting,” he tells Sasuke, “Sakura’s currently at my house, resting.”

“She lost against Ino?” The sheer disbelief on the Uchiha’s face is comical.

“She forfeited. Ino somehow destabilized her chakra,” he says.

Sasuke frowns but doesn’t say anything. The slight shift in his shoulders is enough to give away his concern.

“She says she’ll be fine,” he tries, “but she is kind of loopy at the moment, so.”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment. He tries lifting his arms to see how much coordination he has.

A scent on the wind has him freeze. Something of immense strength is heading their way. It smells like chemicals and bone.

“Sasuke,” he struggles to say though a suddenly too dry mouth, “you need to leave. Now.”

Sasuke frowns down at him before going rigid. The Uchiha faces the direction the odor is coming from. He has no doubt Sasuke can sense the sheer power radiating off this opponent.

“As if,” Sasuke scoffs, “I can take them.”

“You don’t understand,” he tries. “This one is beyond you. Go!”

Sasuke sneers and says nothing, choosing to fall into a fighting stance instead. The other boy has no idea what he’s up against, he realizes. It makes him want to strangle the Uchiha. Sasuke is too stubborn for his own good.

“Damn it, man! Lose the pride before you lose your life!” He shouts.

“Shut up! I’m not leaving,” Sasuke snarls.

A sudden thought hits him. Sasuke stands in front of him, forcing the incoming threat to meet the Uchiha first. It might not be pride keeping Sasuke here after all.

“Just leave me!” He growls.

Sasuke doesn’t even deign to give him a response. He closes his eyes. It’s too late.

“Uchiha Sasuke, you will come with me. Lord Orochimaru demands it.”

There, standing before them, is the pale form of Kimimaro. The bone-user only has eyes for the Uchiha; Kimimaro’s posture and expression give nothing away. The Oto ninja is somehow completely terrifying in his impassiveness, never mind the scent.

Sasuke obviously has questions but says nothing and takes off, almost going too fast to see. He sucks a breath in amazement. He knows Sasuke specializes in speed but seeing it is something else.

Kimimaro is taken aback, clearly surprised at the speed the Uchiha is throwing behind the hits. The Sound ninja dodges each blow but seems to be unable to counterattack.

Unfortunately, Sasuke is getting more agitated with each hit that doesn’t land. It takes less than a heartbeat for Kimimaro to take advantage of this to send Sasuke into a nearby tree.

Sasuke retaliates by spitting out a fireball that Kimimaro dodges with ease. Sasuke uses the tree as a springboard and throws himself towards Kimimaro, tossing shuriken and kunai.

Kimimaro sidesteps the weapon barrage and brings up a hand to a shoulder, pulling out a sword made of bone. The sword catches Sasuke’s fist, and Kimimaro tosses Sasuke with a kick to the side.

It soon becomes depressingly clear that Kimimaro is holding back. No doubt the Sound ninja is trying to keep from seriously injuring Sasuke.

Sasuke must realize this too, if the ugly look on the Uchiha’s face is any indication. Sasuke leaps back, hands flying through seals. As Sasuke lands, the Uchiha’s hand lights up, his other hand grasping his arm to keep steady.

It’s Chidori. Lightning crackles around Sasuke’s hand, and it’s agony to hear the sound of a thousand birds ringing through the forest. Sasuke’s able to keep himself standing, if only barely.

Sasuke charges forward, swift and confident. His fistful of lightning eats through every bone defense Kimimaro puts up. Not even what looks like a wall of bone can stop it. Chidori slides through the distorted ribcage that protects Kimimaro’s chest and goes straight for the Sound ninja’s heart.

For a moment, he can believe Sasuke will win.

That belief dies when Kimimaro extends bones from his thighs into Sasuke’s stomach, forcibly turning Sasuke sideways. Moving quickly, Kimimaro swings the sword into the back of Sasuke’s neck. The Uchiha lets out a startled sound, and the Oto ninja kicks Sasuke away.

The Uchiha hits the dirt, and he knows it’s over. The Sound ninja is simply too strong. Sasuke doesn’t appear to be badly injured, and he knows Kimimaro went easy on the boy. Kimimaro looks down thoughtfully at the unmoving form of Sasuke.

“Truly, Lord Orochimaru will be satisfied with this vessel,” Kimimaro mutters.

Fear hits him, not for himself, but for Sasuke and Sakura.

He needs to move, to do something. If Sasuke is taken, everything will fall apart, and he will have let down both his friends. Sakura will never forgive him for being the reason Sasuke is gone. He manages to sit up when he’s hit with a new scent.

“Hey you! _Your faesh ish ugly_!”

He blinks in shock as a blur of green comes out of nowhere. Kimimaro jumps as the blur slams into the ground where the ninja stood. Standing between the Oto ninja and Sasuke is—

“L-Lee?” He sputters.

He notices the Leaf ninja sway even as Lee keeps his fists up. The other genin smells like sake. Is Lee drunk?

“Don’t get in Lord Orochimaru’s way,” Kimimaro says.

Lee lets out a bizarre scream before charging the Sound ninja. Kimimaro brings up the sword, ready to swing, only to pause as Lee drops before ever getting into range.

Not that dropping stops Lee. The genin begins rolling towards Kimimaro who can’t seem to pull off a textbook stab. Lee keeps rolling around the Sound ninja somehow able to twitch body parts out of the way of harm.

The genin ends the stalemate by aiming a series of kicks from the ground. Kimimaro tries to catch the kicks with bones from his thighs, but Lee is just too quick and too random. The genin moves onto flip kicks before Kimimaro can counter.

It’d be comical if it wasn’t so damn terrifying. A familiar scent reaches his nose, and he braces himself.

“There you are,” a familiar voice singsongs.

“Hisato,” he grimaces.

“Hello,” Hisato blows a kiss, “were you missing me?”

He doesn’t bother answering. He tries to keep an eye on the fight in front of him while watching the threat next to him.

“I’m glad Lee made it in time. Would have been terrible if Kimimaro decided to kill you,” Hisato says brightly.

He’s not sure he likes the implications that Hisato knows and planned for Orochimaru and Kimimaro. Are Hisato’s people working with Orochimaru? Could the invasion be planned on their part? He shelves those thoughts for later.

“What did you do to Lee?” He demands.

He shows the Grass ninja his fangs. He can’t call Rock Lee a friend, but the genin is still his comrade. He thinks, given time, they’ll be great friends.

“No need to get riled up! I was a perfect gentleman the entire time! I simply moved him to where he’d be more helpful,” Hisato tells him with a laugh.

“Also, you should really have a talk with him about taking weird tonics from strangers,” Hisato pauses, “even if they are from fellow Leaf ninja.”

He growls at the Kusa ninja who smiles back sunnily. He’s ready to tear into Hisato when he sees Lee hit the ground in a sprawl, Kimimaro watching with sharp eyes. Something tells him that the genin is down for good.

“Lee!” He shouts.

Kimimaro stands over Lee, sword aimed downwards. The genin doesn’t move. Kimiaro holds his bone sword in such a way, he knows it’s about to pierce Lee’s heart. There’s nothing he can do, he thinks despairingly.

“Let’s end things here, shall we?” Hisato purrs.

Hisato smiles and forms a single seal. Kimimaro stills from his position over Lee. The Sound ninja’s face doesn’t so much as twitch, but he can smell the faint trace of fear.

Kimimaro stumbles back, screaming. He watches with wide eyes as Kimimaro seems to lose control of his bloodline limit. Bones pop through the Sound ninja’s shoulders and chest, rapidly increasing and decreasing in size.

Kimimaro’s desperate attempts to get his ability under control have no effect. More bones sprout from the Oto ninja’s body, each seemingly with a life of their own. The bones begin bending backwards, digging through skin.

He watches in horror as Kimimaro’s bones stab through him repeatedly before wrapping around the Sound ninja, encasing him. Loud snaps echo around them, and the screams are enough to make the hardest ninja flinch.

He only knows it’s over when the mess of bone stops wriggling, and the screaming stops.

“Now that, that’s over with,” Hisato smirks. “Let’s you and I have a heart-to-heart.”

“And if I don’t want to?” He asks, eyeing the Grass ninja warily.

“Then I’ll activate the poison in your face, and just so you know, it’s the same poison that was given to Kimimaro.”

He grits his teeth and slowly gets to his feet. He can still feel the drug affecting him; he won’t be good for a fight. Not for the first time, he wishes with all his heart Akamaru was here.

“Talk then,” he spits.

Hisato hums and digs through a sleeve. The Grass ninja brings out a small, round object. Hisato holds it up, pinched between thumb and finger.

“Tell me, do you know this mark?” Hisato asks.

He’s able to get a good look at the item. A wooden bead, he thinks, with a red flower painstakingly painted onto it. It’s a very familiar looking flower.

“My sister’s tattoo,” he breathes, “why?”

“The man who helped birth you, he carried this bead all the way to his death. He gifted it to me after he passed. That same man happened to call himself my father,” Hisato says.

It takes him a moment to understand. He can feel his eyes widening when he finally gets it.

“No,” he growls, “you are _not_ my brother. I have no father.”

“You’d be right. We’re not related in blood. I was adopted by a broken shell of a man,” Hisato says. “My real parents died just as I ‘woke up.’ To this day I have no idea what my original name was.”

The Kusa ninja slides the bead back into the sleeve. Hisato gives him an ugly look as if this is entirely his fault.

“He actually tried to name me Inukai of all things. He was so stuck in the past!” the Grass ninja waves a hand in outrage. “Naturally I chose my own name, Hisato. But really, do you know how many times your name was brought up? He hardly talked about Hana though, seemed to be too painful.”

Hisato stands there, gaze a million miles away. He’s not sure what he’s supposed to be feeling. Confused or upset maybe, he thinks.

“I knew who you were of course. I remember that much. Sometimes I’d think—well never you mind. Even without a large clan, I was—well not happy—but I was content. Content in my dull life with my dull pretend family.”

The Kusa ninja waits for him to say something. He gives Hisato the driest look he can manage. He’s not sure he can bring himself to care about any of this drivel.

“I finally got the body I always wanted,” Hisato continues, glaring at him, “but I still had to bow to the whims of your father like a second-class son.”

“Not my father,” he reminds the Grass ninja.

“And isn’t that the cruelest part?” Hisato laughs bitterly. “I used to wonder about you sometimes. Would we be like siblings? Or something else? Would you accept me as I am?”

Hisato claps his hands together with a frown.

“Of course it’s no good thinking that now. It’s time to bury old feelings,” Hisato pauses, “but first I want to see if you realize.”

“Realize?” He repeats.

Hisato turns sharply on his heel, snapping his fingers.

“Well, come on then. Follow me!” Hisato says brightly.

He spares a glance back towards the unmoving forms of Sasuke and Lee. He prays for them to stay safe. Steeling himself, he follows the Grass ninja back towards Konoha.

Hisato avoids remaining skirmishes and patrols with astounding ease. He follows along silently, if a bit more clumsily, wishing once more Akamaru was by his side.

The Kusa ninja leads him to the roof of an apartment building. Everything around it lies in ruin, yet the building itself suffers very little damage. It wouldn’t surprise him if a giant summon had passed by, leaving a random trail of destruction.

He can’t smell anyone nearby which is alarming. That any part of Konoha is abandoned at this time seems utterly wrong. He looks around and can’t see anyone in the immediate vicinity.

There are ninjas moving around farther out, but none seem to notice the two of them.

“Seals,” Hisato says, noticing his observations, “to discourage any passerby. It kept the building intact. Keeps us pretty invisible too.”

“You’re that good of a seal master?” He asks flatly.

“Oh no,” Hisato refutes immediately, “the one who did it—well, you’ll meet them soon enough.”

“So you brought me here, and?” He prompts.

“I wanted you to see the changes you made,” Hisato tells him with a smile, “and how you accomplished what my boss couldn’t.”

He narrows his eyes at the Kusa ninja. Hisato’s people are after change then?

“Oh,” Hisato suddenly says, “there they are! Look behind you.”

His instincts tell him not to turn his back to the enemy, but it’s not like there’s anything to lose with Hisato holding the kill switch. He turns around.

“Is that?” He breathes.

“Oh, yeah,” Hisato smirks, “don’t know what you did, but you did it.”

The Third Hokage, in full battle armor, leaping between buildings isn’t that shocking in itself. The Second Hokage following the Third is far more surprising.

“The revival of Senju Tobirama in Konoha’s favor was a most unexpected development.”

He stiffens at the unfamiliar voice behind him. He hadn’t smelled anyone approaching. Could the seals on the building be affecting his senses?

A wary glance reveals a tall, cloaked figure standing next to Hisato. Their face and body shape is completely disguised by black fabric, a sharp contrast to the white and gold preferred by the Grass Ninja. It suspicious enough, but the scent…

“So this is the one responsible for the deaths of Akiyo and Takara. Pity, they were proving to be useful.”

He’s ready to make a sarcastic remark, but the words won’t come. This person’s scent overpowers his ability to speak. They smell like lightning and hatred.

“You shouldn’t be playing, _Inukai_. Don’t you need to take this boy somewhere?” The cloaked figure says contemptuously.

“Don’t forget, _Yurei_ ,” Hisato sneers, “you’re not my boss. I don’t answer to you.”

“I require the location of Uchiha Sasuke. When I finish with the boy, I will go after Orochimaru.”

It hits him that this person—the one Hisato called Yurei—wants to kill Sasuke. This is the person that is after his comrade, his friend. Yurei, whose people sent most of his friends to the hospital. He breathes through the fear and finds his voice.

“Stay away from Sasuke, you bastard!” He growls.

He feels the heavy stare digging into him from beneath the hood. He feels like he’s being judged. He bares his fangs in response.

“I cannot. He must die,” Yurei tells him solemnly.

He launches himself forward. He doesn’t know what he’s doing; he thinks he’s trying to land a punch.

He doesn’t get far. A kick sends him flying to the other side of the rooftop. His face scrapes against the concrete beneath him, and he struggles to catch his breath. That person barely moved.

“Where is the Uchiha?” The cloaked figure asks.

He gets to his knees and chokes on the vomit in the back of his mouth. Hisato spares him a glance.

“No idea,” the Grass ninja says airily, “I sensed incoming Anbu and decided to move our little chat. The glum bucket’s long gone by now.”

Hisato’s lying. He stares down at the floor of the rooftop, trying not to give it away. He knows Hisato is lying; he hadn’t smelled anyone moving in.

“I see.”

He wonders if Yurei believes the Kusa ninja.

“Very well, I will allow Orochimaru to live this time. Sasuke will eventually seek him out, and when he does,” Yurei trails off threateningly.

“Yes, yes, you’ll kill them both. Go do your thing already,” Hisato snaps.

The cloaked figure gives them a heavy stare before dashing away in a blur. He doesn’t let himself move until that awful scent fades away completely.

“Pretentious prick,” Hisato mutters. “You owe me one, two really. Not that I’m going to be able to collect.”

“Why?” He croaks.

Why protect Sasuke?

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t do it for you. I just hate that guy,” Hisato says, waving a hand as if to banish any thought of kindness.

He doesn’t know what to say to that.

“Kiba,” Hisato says after a long moment, “I need to know. Will you join me? Will you follow me to my boss?”

He knows his fate hangs on this answer. He also knows there’s only one answer to give. He shows his teeth to the Grass ninja staring at him intensely.

“Never,” he says.

“I see.”

Hisato closes his eyes and turns away with a frown.

“I’m supposed to bring you to Boss, but we both know you’ll never cooperate,” Hisato looks to the sky. “It’s a shame really, but this is where we part ways.”

The Kusa ninja turns to face him.

“Goodbye, Inuzuka Kiba,” Hisato utters, bringing his hands together.

He sucks in a breath, knowing he won’t make it in time. He’s still too weak, too slow. He braces himself for the pain while silently begging forgiveness for letting everyone down.

_Akamaru, Sakura, Shi—_

The pain doesn’t come. Hisato’s forced to move to avoid a shuriken to the face.

His eyes widen as a familiar voice rings out behind him,

“He is mine.”

_Shino_

Hisato jumps to the side to avoid another shuriken, only for a leg to slam into the Grass ninja’s back. Hisato hits the ground, and Shino stands behind the Kusa ninja, hands in pockets.

“I will never surrender what is mine,” Shino declares, sunglasses shining ominously.

He can practically smell the rage rolling off the Aburame. A shiver goes through him. He knows Shino can be possessive, but this is something new.

“You will die this day,” his teammate promises.

Shino moves to drop kick Hisato only for the Grass ninja to roll out of the way. Hisato gets to his feet with a huff.

“I thought I lost you for good this time,” Hisato says through gritted teeth.

“You would have escaped my grasp,” Shino acknowledges, “had you not gone after my teammate.”

So Shino had been looking for him. Nice to know he can always rely on his teammate for both a dramatic entrance and a rescue.

“Tell me if you’ve heard this one,” Hisato smiles, bringing out his blades. “ _I’ll squash you like a bug_.”

He has enough time to give the Grass ninja an expression of disbelief before Hisato is flying towards the Shino responsible for kicking him. It’s a bug clone of course. The real Shino is currently standing behind him.

He leaves it to his teammate to take the lead on this one. Undoubtedly Shino’s kikaichu have already been hard at work the moment the fight began.

Shino pushes Hisato near him and Team 8 training kicks in. He launches himself at Hisato, fist swinging.

To his aggravation, his coordination is completely off; Hisato has no trouble bringing up a leg and punting him over the side of the building. Only the scraping of his nails against the railing keeps him from falling. He grabs on more firmly with his other hand.

He heaves himself up and lands onto his back with a groan. He can practically feel his teammate’s disapproval from here. He winces and turns his attention to the fight.

The real Shino has already rushed Hisato, teaming up with his clone. Insects cling to Hisato’s form even as the Grass ninja fends off attacks from in front and behind him. He watches the exchange of blows with narrow eyes.

Something’s not right. Hisato should be slowing down by now. He knows from personal experience how fast Shino’s kikaichu can drain chakra.

Hisato disperses the bug clone and ducks beneath an elbow strike from the real Shino. The Kusa ninja retaliates by punching Shino so hard, his teammate goes flying.

Shino lands hard onto the floor of the rooftop with a grunt. The Aburame is so close; he can see his teammate gasping for breath. A glance at Hisato shows the Grass ninja covered in insects but otherwise fine.

“How are you withstanding Shino’s kikaichu?” He asks furiously.

“You think I don’t know his technique? Honey, I remember _everything_ ,” Hisato grins.

Damn, he thinks. Of course Hisato would have thought up a counter to his opponent in the Chunin Exams. Hisato obviously remembers the story which included Shino’s abilities. At this rate—

He grits his teeth. No, he is no damn princess. He’s not so weak as to keep lying here as his teammate fights for both their lives.  

Just like training with Ma, he tells himself. Fight through the pain, move through the exhaustion, and rely on your partner. Akamaru may not be here, but Shino is. He gets to his knees and reaches for his chakra.

Hisato throws a knife at Shino, and he leaps in front of his teammate to catch the blade with his armguard. The force behind it is enough to move his arm but not enough to go through the armor.

“Shino!” He calls, “Let’s show him what we’re made of!”

He doesn’t get a verbal reply, and he doesn’t expect one. The fact that Shino uses his back as a launch pad to attack Hisato from the air is as good a response as any.

Hisato brings up a blade, intentions on bringing the aerial assault to a stop clear, and he rushes forward with a weak Passing Fang. Hisato uses his other blade to escape, and Shino lands beside him.

They don’t bother sharing a glance. They’re Team 8. This is what they trained for.

Not letting Hisato get a moment to recover, he pushes his sluggish chakra and spins towards the Grass ninja. Shino predicts where Hisato will be, moving accordingly. True to form, Hisato avoids his attack only to land straight into Shino’s.

Hisato stumbles backwards, and he pulls on his chakra again with a feral snarl. Passing Fang herds Hisato back towards Shino, who gives the Grass ninja a kick to the other side of the rooftop.

The pure outrage on the Kusa ninja’s face makes him grin. This only causes Hisato more anger. Hisato is instantly in front of him, blades swinging and trying to take his head. Bending backwards under a blade, he brings a knee up.

His knee guard hits Hisato’s wrist, and Shino throws a handful a shuriken at the Kusa ninja’s back, all which hit their mark. Hisato jumps away with a shriek.

“Finish it,” Shino commands, standing on the edge of the roof.

He smirks and pushes almost all of his chakra into a final Passing Fang. Hisato uses his blades to jump out of his path, keeping an eye on the unmoving Shino. Thing is, the Grass ninja’s concerns are over the wrong thing. He makes a few more passes at Hisato, keeping his turns as sharp as he can make them.

Hisato curses and stumbles as the floor cracks beneath his foot. He’s able to rip away one of the blades attached to Hisato before he cancels the technique.

He’s been scraping and hitting the concrete little by little. It’s over, he thinks. Hisato can no longer use his speed to escape.

Shino rushes forward, kunai in hand. His teammate is playing for keeps; he’s going for the eyes.

“If I go, I’m taking you with me,” Hisato hisses.

Shifting to let the kunai stab through his ear, the Kusa ninja clasps his hands together. He doesn’t have time to move. The pain starts in his face, and he finds himself falling to his knees.

Everything feels like it’s on fire; it’s overwhelming. He manages to choke out a curse before speech leaves him. All of his senses fade away, and the only thing he can hear is his own heartbeat.

He feels like he’s being cooked from the inside out. He feels like he’s dying.

The pain suddenly ebbs away, and he can feel something crawling on his face. Not just his face, he realizes. Insects are digging into every inch of him.

“I admit I was uncertain about it until you gave yourself away. It appears she was right,” says the low voice of his teammate.

“Shino?” He gasps.

His sight comes back into focus, and he’s able to make out Shino standing over a prone Hisato. Plenty of blood pools around the body. He thinks the Grass ninja’s hands might also be broken.

“Sakura,” Shino says, “she came up with three possibilities of the so-called poison. It appears the correct one was that Hisato did not actually administer a toxin but a technique.”

“Of course it was the girl,” a weak laugh comes from the fallen Kusa ninja.

“Through our experiments, we deemed that it would be impractical to use venom or poison as a long-term ploy,” Shino goes on as if Hisato never spoke. “Could it be a bomb then? Perhaps one activated by the enemy’s chakra? This train of thought led Sakura to believe it was not toxin but a chakra enhancer.”

“Chakra enhancer?” He questions.

“Indeed. What better way to make a living bomb than to force the victim’s chakra to explode? With this technique, your chakra increases rapidly with no way for release. Under these conditions your body would destroy itself, but my insects will siphon away the excess chakra until the enhancer runs its course.”

He blows out a breath and tries not to think about how close he came to being Kimimaro.

“Shino, you’re awesome,” he declares.

“You must not forget Sakura’s part in it,” Shino reminds him.

As if he could forget that. He grins at his teammate who seems content to stand there looking cool.

“Oh, please. End me now so I can be spared your flirting,” Hisato rasps.

He raises an eyebrow at the Grass ninja.

“Pretty rich, coming from you,” he says flatly, “but don’t worry. The moment the bugs come off is the moment we part ways.”

Hisato says nothing to that. He takes the time to appreciate the stars against the rapidly dimming sky and wonders if the Grass ninja is too.

He inhales deeply, extending his sense as far as it can go; there’s a lot of blood on the wind. His sense of smell has been dulled, but he can smell remnants of Sand. Thankfully the scent of home beats it out. Konoha ninja are running around, probably assessing damage.

Eventually the kikaichu fly off of him and to Shino, one by one. He finds himself standing over Hisato once the last one takes off. He tries to fight off the sudden fatigue the best he can.

He looks down at the fallen Kusa ninja and feels something remarkably close to pity. Hisato stares up at the sky with such a defeated expression, something inside of him shifts unpleasantly. He doesn’t like it.

(Not pity, he finds out later, but disappointment at the end of a hunt)

“Let me do it,” he tells Shino.

His teammate gives him a heavy stare but nods his acquiescence. He slides out a kunai and kneels next to Hisato. The Grass ninja says nothing even as he holds the tool to the other’s throat.

“You deserved your name,” he says quietly, firmly. “Through me you’ll live to see the end.”

Hisato’s lips quirk into what might be the first real smile the Kusa ninja has ever shown him. It is also the last as he drags the kunai across the other boy’s throat.

He ignores the choking and gurgles; he places his mouth over the gushing wound. He drinks, consuming the life of his enemy. It’s a foul taste and makes his nose hurt.

He doesn’t see the life fade from Hisato’s eyes, but he’s able to tell when the Kusa ninja dies. He sits back and stares down at the corpse.

Everything tastes and smells like blood. He wonders if Sakura is right about his spirit tasting like blood too.

Shino hands him a handkerchief, and he gives the Aburame a red-filled grin. He wipes his face and hopes this doesn’t become a trend. He’s going to gargle so much mouthwash it won’t even be funny.

He continues staring at the body, thinking.

“I’m going to claim the corpse,” he eventually says. “I’ll burn him and bury him somewhere in the compound.”

“Why?” Shino asks.

He’s aware he doesn’t have to do this. He knows there’s no real reason to go through the effort for someone he hated, but—

“I owe him one.”

Shino helps him carry the body out of the area and to a ninja that is able to seal it away into a scroll. He promises to serve his teammate a well-deserved dinner.

First he’s got to find Akamaru though.

Shino sends an insect off to reassure his father and refuses to leave his side. He doesn’t say anything, but he’s grateful to the other boy. It’s an ache to be so alone.

They make their way to the compound. He’s not sure if his partner has made it home or not, but it’s a good opportunity to check on Sakura. The smell of blood and destruction fade giving his nose a respite.

When they are a few steps away from Inuzuka territory, Shino stops and holds up a finger. An insect lands onto the Aburame’s fingertip a second later. Shino stares at the bug intently, and he’s left shifting on his feet impatiently.

“You may wish to brace yourself. Why? Because your family is under the impression that you’ve been taken,” Shino tells him.

“Ah?” He throws his teammate a wary look.

“I estimate we will be surrounded the moment we enter. Three of your clansmen are already headed this way,” Shino pauses. “Also, Akamaru has made it safely to your house along with your sister. Sakura and her parents also remain inside. No one is injured beyond the acceptable parameters.”

He rubs his eyes with his sleeve. The sudden feeling of relief sharply contrasts the knowledge that he’s about to be face-to-face with an upset family. Either way, his partners and sister are home safe.

“Thanks, Shino,” he smiles. “Now let’s get this over with so we can eat. We’ve got a busy day of cleanup tomorrow.”

Shino nods, and they cross the border into Inuzuka lands. Not a minute later they get swamped by overdramatic relatives.

“Tsume’s boy! I can’t believe it!” “Kiba, you’re safe!” “Tell me who did it. I’ll rip out their throats!”

They do manage to get to his house even if Shino and he gain an escort of bodyguards in ever increasing number. He opens the door with more force than is strictly necessary.

“Stay!” He growls over his shoulder. “Shino, come on.”

He can smell Sakura upstairs with her parents. He can smell Sis waiting for him in the living room. He can smell—

“Akamaru!” He shouts.

The ninken makes a joyful bark back, and happiness threatens to overcome him. His partner is here. His partner is alive and well. He feels his throat closing and tears pricking at the back of his eyes.

He’s not going to cry. He’s not.

He bursts into tears when the ninken leaps into his arms. Akamaru tries to soothe him with soft words which only makes him cry harder.

Sis waits until he’s mostly under control before punching him hard in the face. Before he can snap back, Sis puts him in a chokehold. It’s when she’s sniffing his hair that he realizes his sister is trying to keep her own tears from falling.

Akamaru grumbles about being squashed between them, and he lets out a laugh.

He made it home.

“Where’s Ma?” He chokes out.

“Working, she’ll be out all night getting things under control,” Sis pauses. “I’ve got to go back out too, but everyone’s okay. Akamaru needs rest. You’ll need to change his bandages in an hour, but he’ll be fine.”

She ruffles his hair before letting him go.

“Kiba, Shino, come sit in the kitchen. I’ve got some stew on the stove,” Sis sends him a look, “and no, Great Aunt Himawari didn’t make it.”

His shoulders relax at that.

Shino and he take a seat at the kitchen table. He’s reluctant to let go of Akamaru, but the ninken is better off on the floor. Sis shoves two bowls in front of them, and he’s unsure if the feeling in his stomach is hunger or nausea.

“How’s Sakura?” He asks, shoving a spoon into his mouth.

It’s stew—meat and broth—he tells himself, not blood.  It’s far too thick and smells nothing like blood. He takes a deep inhale to help his brain realize it.

“I don’t know. I haven’t had time to really examine her,” Sis frowns.

“What is wrong with Sakura?” Shino asks. “My insect noticed a disturbance in her chakra flow.”

“She’s cut off from her Yang chakra,” he fills his teammate in. “It happened when Ino did her Mind Body Swap technique.”

“I’ll be sure to ask a Yamanaka about it,” Sis promises. “I need to get going anyways. I’ll let Ma know you’re okay and to call off the hunt.”

Sis ruffles his hair again before turning to look at his teammate,

“Shino, please watch over Kiba and Sakura. I’ll send word to your family of your whereabouts.”

Shino nods in reply. Sis walks out of the kitchen, howling for her partners. He glances down to Akamaru in reflex. The ninken gives him a comforting yip in reply.

Shino and he work on finishing eating. Only the clanking of spoons against bowls can be heard; the compound is eerily silent.

His mind drifts to Sasuke and Lee, to Hinata, Naruto, and Team 10. He won’t be able to sleep tonight until he knows they’re okay.

“I find I must apologize.”

He blinks at Shino in confusion. Shino sits stiffly. His teammate appears to be looking at the ceiling.

“The Chunin Exams, Hisato, I,” Shino pauses, eyebrows furrowed, “I planned to kill him swiftly. It was my intention to prevent him from getting near you. When he fled, I followed. I went after Hisato with reckless abandon, in turn abandoning you. Forgive me.”

He scratches the back of his head. He’s never heard Shino have so much trouble stringing words together before. It’s a bit unnerving.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “Even I didn’t realize I was a target.”

Wasn’t that something, after all that time spent worrying over Sasuke.

“Besides, I knew you’d end up finding me anyways,” he adds, pointing at his collarbone, “still have your bug in my jacket after all.”

The insect even has a little pocket sewn on the inside for it to live in.

“Trust me,” he continues when Shino keeps giving him that guilty look, “I know you. You’d track me down to the ends of the earth and light everything on fire.”

He’d do the same for Shino after all. Akamaru lets out a string of barks. He wishes he has the eloquence his partner has when it comes to words.

“Akamaru says he’d help you, as would Sakura and Hinata. Probably everyone else too. He says you’re not alone and not to beat yourself up. Learn and grow from this,” he translates for the ninken.

He listens to the faint buzzing coming from his teammate and lets himself relax. He knows Sakura’s okay, in a slight stretch of the word, Akamaru will be fine, and Shino sits next to him relatively uninjured. It’s not enough.

“Oi, Shino, do you know anything about Hinata or the other teams?”

“Hinata is fine as is the rest of her clan. It is almost humorous that the Hyuuga expected her to have a disappointing showing as Hinata has managed to obtain the beginnings of a reputation,” Shino says.

“Hinata? Reputation?” He asks blankly.

“She is responsible for the arrest of over seven Suna invaders and managed to defeat Kankuro and Temari of the Sand alongside Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji,” Shino replies.

“Wow,” he says, “go Hinata. And go Chouji and Shikamaru, I know those two would have preferred to remain asleep.”

“I believe her sister was her main motivation for the initial attack, and Naruto was the drive to go after Gaara,” Shino tells him. “Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji are recovering, and Naruto is currently helping move debris.”

“Ino was taken to her home after her battle with Sakura, and Sasuke is currently missing. No one of real note was lost in this battle,” Shino finishes.

He taps his hidden armguard in irritation. Of course Sasuke’s missing; he’s probably still passed out in the middle of the forest with Lee. He’s so tired, but he can’t just leave his comrades. He stands up, stumbling slightly. Shino gives him an inquiring look.

“Come on, I might know where Sasuke is. Lee too. Lee will forgive me for leaving him out all night, but Sasuke won’t.”

He hopes they’re still there in any case. He leaves Akamaru behind to rest and gets his teammate to help track down Naruto.

They find the blond hard at work using his clones to move the more dangerous debris. He feels the familiar irritation at the unfairness of it all; only Naruto can go through two chakra heavy battles and keep going.

The look of pure misery on the boy’s face wipes away that irritation quick. His teammates, he realizes. Naruto doesn’t know where they are.

“Oi, Naruto! Sakura’s at my house. She’s,” he barely hesitates, “fine. We’re going to look for Sasuke, want to come?”

It’s not like he needs to ask. He only grumbles a little bit when Naruto yells at him to get a move on.

Sasuke and Lee still lie in the forest unconscious, and Naruto is more than happy to carry them both to a medic site. Shino and he opt to remain behind to stare down at the remains of Kimimaro.

“This is the last Kaguya,” Shino comments.

This is the end of one of their fiercest opponents, he doesn’t voice.

“Yeah,” he grimaces at the mess of bone and blood.

That could have been me, he wants to say. The Aburame lets out a hum, and he thinks Shino hears him anyways.

“It is a long road from here,” Shino utters lowly, “but we will keep going to the end, wherever that may be. Why? Because we are friends. Because that is life.”

“Yeah,” he says this time with a smile.

Shino walks him home before heading to the Aburame district. He’d offer to let Shino spend the night if the bug-user wasn’t so anxious to check in with the clan.

Even knowing that, he still feels a little guilty. It’s a long walk, and they only get a few hours of sleep before they’re called on for cleanup.

He’s eating a breakfast composed of whatever he can find when his mother gets home. He’s happy to see her; his mother’s presence is comforting. That doesn’t make her any less terrifying.

“Glad you’re okay, brat,” Ma says roughly.

Her expression is strained, and Kuromaru is giving him a look that screams, “Be careful.” He feels the claws digging into his scalp. He tries not to move.

“Because from this day forward I’m going to make sure it won’t happen again. You’re going to be in training hell,” Ma promises darkly, “and I expect you to say thank you for it.”

He tries not to make a sound of distress. Akamaru whimpers for him instead. Kuromaru gives them a pitying look. Ma takes a sniff, ruffles his hair violently, and leaves for a nap.

His spirits aren’t exactly high when he leaves the house. Sakura is still insane. Her parents are mad at him for some reason. His mother is still scary. He still has the scroll containing Hisato’s body in his jacket.

There is one good thing though.

“Let’s get to work, Akamaru!”

Everyone’s still here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally planned for Kiba to take a bite out of Hisato, but decided I didn't want to add a cannibalism tag. Have some light vampirism instead. ~~Let's push that M rating shall we~~ Does anyone get the references, I wonder?
> 
> Edit: Also, I'm going back and reworking the names. I tried to put Hyūga and Chōji but found I have problems reading it comfortably. So I'm changing Choji to Chouji instead.


	7. Coming to a head

Lack of trees means no shade in the field surrounding his house, and the sun is unforgiving during midday. He makes sure to head out there some time before breakfast while the morning is still cool.

Akamaru complains, but the ninken snuggles into his jacket without coaxing.

“I know you’d hate this, but apparently I’m supposed to say a few words. Don’t worry, I hate this too,” he says, empty field greeting him back.

It’s not all bad, he supposes. This is the first bit of quiet he’s managed to have to himself in days. Konoha’s long since gone back to normal since the invasion, but his duties as Inuzuka heir keep him busy.

“I’m sure you can guess how the clan is doing. Be glad you never had to put up with them,” he mutters to a neatly stacked pile of rocks. “I’ve actually had to bite ears. Human and ninken alike.”

His clan of idiots seems to think now is the best time to take on the Hyuuga. Never mind that Konoha is still holding its breath for more fighting, or that Hinata hasn’t said a word on the issue. Never mind the undead Second Hokage still running around.

By all means, he thinks scratching the back of his head, let’s launch a civil war and outdo Orochimaru.

“They are very lucky Sis is too busy to put them in their place.”

Not that it stops her. He’s been waking up to a scroll containing a list of names, offenses, and suggested punishments on his dresser. Some of those suggestions are a bit on the extreme side.

His clansmen dodged a kunai when Hana turned down the position of clan heir. He has no doubt she’d have the Haimaru Brothers bite off fingers, only reattaching the appendages after a long, stern lecture.

He tries not to grimace at the mental picture. Speaking of scary—

“You know,” he says, “Ma was kind of mad when she found out about you.”

_“He did what?” Ma snarls, fingers flexing. “Run that by me again, brat.”_

_He eyes her warily. He hopes she’s not imagining wrapping her claws around his throat in place of Hisato. Akamaru backs up to hide behind his legs._

_“It all worked out?” He tries._

_He winces at the sheer amount of fury his mother is able to convey in a single look._

“And then there was when she and Sis found out about the blood drinking bit.”

_“You did what?” Ma asks flatly._

_“Kiba,” Sis gapes at him, “you do know we did not mean ‘consume your enemy’ literally, right?”_

_Ma stares at him silently, and he feels the weight of her judgement. He resolutely does not look down at his feet._

_“Should have gone all the way,” Ma snorts, “rip the whole throat out, chew and swallow.”_

_“Ma!” Sis hisses, scandalized._

_“He shouldn’t have wimped out after getting that far!” Ma exclaims, throwing her hands up._

_“We don’t know if our stomachs can still safely break down blood and raw flesh! Kiba could have been sick!” Sis retorts with pulled back lips._

_“Of course we can handle a little bit of raw meat! We eat it over rice all the time. And the boy’s fine, a little bit of blood never hurt nobody. Brat!” Ma addresses him, “Next time you get the opportunity, I want you to tear into your opponent and dine on them in front of everybody. Especially those prissy Hyuuga.”_

_“Don’t you dare until I do some research!” Sis snaps at him._

_He wisely backs out of the room the moment his mother and sister turn to each other, snarling._

“And—” he lets out an aggravated sigh, “—I am talking to a rock. No matter which way I look at it, I am talking to a rock. How do people do this?”

Don’t look at me, Akamaru barks, I don’t talk to rocks.

The smell of food is drifting over from the surrounding houses and settling around the area like a blanket. It’s making his mouth water. Sis is probably done making breakfast by now. As much as he looks forward to his sister’s cooking, he can’t stop the resentful feeling resting in his gut.

“Let’s go get this over with,” he tells Akamaru. “You know what comes after we eat.”

He leaves the rock behind and begins the trek home. Breakfast ends all too soon. He drags his feet which ends up with him getting chased out by his sister’s ninken. He still makes it to the appointment with plenty of time to spare.

It’s a pity, he thinks.

“So how have you been, Sakura?”

Do we have to be here, Akamaru whines.

He grunts in response, shifting in the stiff chair irritably. Notepad in hand, the Yamanaka ignores them, sharp eyes scanning the girl sitting in her own uncomfortable chair next to him.

“Same as always,” Sakura says, staring at the wall behind the man.

Sakura’s not exactly happy to be here either.

“No improvement?” The doctor asks casually.

Sakura gives the man a condescending look. When the Yamanaka keeps waiting for a response, she lifts her hand, pooling chakra into it. She activates the Mystical Palm technique, purple swirling in place of green. She deactivates it with a dull stare.

“Your chakra is still the same, I see,” the doctor says pleasantly, “but I asked how you were.”

“Fine,” Sakura snaps out, “I’m fine.”

Sakura and the doctor start the makings of a staring contest. The Yamanaka wants to hear more, and Sakura would prefer to shove a senbon into the man’s eye. He knows from previous experience that neither one will back down.

“She’s still a bit spacey, but she’s getting more grounded with the return of her physical chakra,” he speaks up with a roll of his eyes.

Can we go yet, Akamaru barks out.

“I see,” the Yamanaka says with a gentle expression, “have you been doing your exercises, Sakura?”

“Yes, I am a good girl. I have been bouncing a ball against the wall like good girls do,” she says dryly.

“It’s important to keep your physical chakra engaged,” the man says sternly. “It is essential to keep yin and yang chakra evenly—”

“Yes, yes,” Sakura interrupts irritably, “I am a medic-in-training. I understand.”

“Ah, about that,” the doctor hesitates.

Sakura’s face goes blank, and he winces in anticipation. Akamaru makes for the door. He wishes he could do the same as he knows exactly what’s about to happen. There’s a reason he’s here after all.

“Sakura,” the Yamanaka begins softly, “medics require a very fine control of chakra.”

“Which I have in spades,” Sakura reminds the man.

“Yes, which is astounding considering,” the doctor pauses, “but all medic techniques demand a very high, balanced output of chakra.”

A thunderous expression slowly encompasses Sakura’s face.

“Even with your recovery, you’ll never have enough of a balance. I’m afraid you’ll need to begin considering alternate fields. It’s not unusual for ninja to need to change—”

Purple-tinted chakra blades spring to life, and he’s tackling Sakura to the ground. His chair goes flying into the wall behind him. Her chair nails him in the face somewhere in the process before it gets pushed out of the way as well.

“Let me go!” Sakura screams at him through a mouth of sharp, purple chakra. He keeps her pinned down the best he can.

“Right, still wanting to push those buttons, doc?” He says through gritted teeth as a chakra nail pierces his arm. “She’s getting better after all!”

The Yamanaka hums before writing something down. Sakura thrashes against him, and he barely avoids a nasty bite to the bicep. The doctor gives the two of them a thoughtful look.

“I believe we should—”

“If the next words out of your mouth are not ‘leave for the day’ I’m letting go of her,” he warns.

The Yamanaka pales slightly.

“Right, well, let’s call it a day, shall we?”

He doesn’t release his still raging friend until he’s sure the doctor is out the door and down the hall. He dodges a half-hearted swipe to the head. Sakura deactivates her chakra blades and collapses onto the floor with a scowl. He slumps down beside her once he’s sure she’s not going to behead him.

“Why do you let him antagonize you?” He asks irritably.

“Because I don’t have full control of my emotional range just yet,” she tells him with a hiss.

Well, he’s got to give her that one. He’s just glad her normal emotions are returning at all. He pokes at the still bleeding spot on his arm.

“Sorry,” Sakura says, staring at the blood pooling on his jacket, “sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he tells her. “You know I’ve had worse.”

“Yeah, but I did that without caring I did that. I hate this,” Sakura says, glaring at the floor.

He holds his arm out. Pulling up her strange, new chakra, Sakura places a hand on top of the wound. The skin knits itself together in seconds. Not just the skin, he thinks with some amazement, but the jacket pieces itself back together too.

“Not a medic,” Sakura scoffs, “as if I won’t be better than Lady Tsunade!”

Sakura’s chakra is completely unstable. She’s not supposed to be able to heal more than a papercut, if that. This, he believes, is sheer willpower.

“At least he didn’t ask if you were still having conversations with the Sage,” he offers.

“It was only the one!” Sakura cries. “And I swear it was the most disappointing conversation with a god I’ve ever had!”

“Isn’t it the only conversation you’ve had?” He asks with some humor.

“And it was the worst!” Sakura exclaims shaking her head. “Vague shit about peace and acceptance.”

“It’s better than nothing?” He tries.

She makes a face at him.

“The worst part is that Lord Tobirama takes it completely serious,” she says. “Do you know how many times I had to go over it with him?”

He gets to his feet the moment the Second Hokage is mentioned. He takes a deep inhale, trying to locate Akamaru. The ninken’s outside the door.

“You can’t avoid him forever even if zombies creep you out,” Sakura deadpans. “He wants to hear about your experience with the Sage from you.”

He reaches for the door without a backwards glance. He knows when to retreat.

“I can’t help it. It’s disturbing. The dead should stay dead,” he spits over his shoulder.

He leaves before Sakura can go on a passionate rant about why the Second Hokage is the greatest thing since the creation of seals. He needs to go see Hinata anyways.

He meets his teammate at their regular hangout, the Inuzuka teahouse. Cousin Junko keeps the place empty for them, and he finds himself sipping tea out of an expensive cup. Hinata sits across the table from him, head held high and deep exhaustion etched all over her scent. Akamaru lets out a rumble of concern but keeps quiet.

He decides to set the cup down on the table before getting down to business.

“Hinata,” he starts, “what do you need?”

The Hyuuga gives him an inscrutable look. She looks so much like Hanabi in that moment, it makes his stomach drop.

“Though I have lost, the Hyuuga house retains its honor. As such, the Hyuuga humbly thank the Inuzuka for the chance to train for the exam.”

“Hinata—” He tries.

“Even so, the Hyuuga requests this to be the end of my relations with the Inuzuka alongside my removal from Team 8.”

Hinata’s face remains impassive, but she can’t hide the wobble in her voice. She can’t hide the reflection in her scent. His mouth goes dry. Akamaru lets out a frantic bark.

“So this is,” Hinata trails off, looking down at her cup of tea.

“T-This is,” she tries again, stuttering.

It appears the Hyuuga have finally opened their eyes to what had always been there. Not the stuttering, shy Hinata, but the powerful, protective Hinata. The one willing to take on a demon surrounded by enemy ninja to keep the people she cares about safe.

They want this powerhouse as their future leader, and they most likely want to keep her isolated to better mold her into the Hyuuga ideal.

He glares down at the table. Burning rage bubbles beneath his skin. If any of her clansmen were here right now, he’s not sure he’d be able to stop himself from murder.

Thing is—

“Hinata, what do you need?” He repeats firmly.

Eyes pale as the moon stare back at him hopefully.

—he’s not about to let her say goodbye.

When it comes time to part, he gives her the biggest hug he’s capable of with a promise to see her tomorrow. He doesn’t tell her that he has no idea what he’s doing or how to help her.

He can’t bring himself to sleep that night. Hinata’s problem is his problem. One he made himself, to be honest. His chest feels heavy from worrying over Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata.

Maybe Sakura had been right all those years ago. Maybe sticking to the script would have been the better choice.

And yet.

Despite it all, despite his role in muddying the waters of the future, he doesn’t regret anything. He’s made so many precious people, how could he give that up? The only regret he could ever truly make would be to not even try.

He reaches over to pet Akamaru’s head; rubbing behind the ear in the spot the ninken loves the most. Akamaru gives him a sleepy snuffle.

His precious people, he reflects.

“I think,” his hand stills, “I have an idea. It’s not a good one, and Shikamaru will give me that look. You know the one. But,” he trails off, frowning at the wall.

Go for it, Akamaru tells him through squinted eyes, won’t know unless you try.

“Won’t know unless I try, huh?” He murmurs. “Here’s for hoping.”

He finds himself inside the Nara compound the next day. Shikamaru’s taking a nap on the porch outside the main house. The Nara faces away from him, muscles completely relaxed. It’s obvious that Shikamaru is awake and is pretending there is no surprise guest impatiently waiting to be acknowledged.

“You know, I know you’re faking it,” he says to the genin’s back.

Shikamaru’s response is to let out a soft snore.

“You chose the hard way,” he says, lip curling, “Akamaru, let’s give our good buddy a wake-up call.”

Shikamaru’s reaction is impeccable. The Nara neatly rolls into a crouch, sending the two of them a glower only someone disturbed from slumber can give.

“What?” The Nara says, eyeing him with distaste.

“I,” he feels his tongue grow heavy, “need your help.”

Shikamaru stares at him as if waiting for the punchline. He gives the Nara a pleading look and lets his shoulders slump. Shikamaru’s lips thin before the shadow-user rubs his face with an aggravated sigh.

“Follow me,” Shikamaru says, getting to his feet.

The Nara motions him inside the house. They don’t go to Shikamaru’s bedroom; instead he’s led to a traditional styled room. Shikamaru takes a seat, sitting not quite as formal as a Hyuuga might, but not as slouched as normal.

He stands unsure of how to sit and, after a brief moment, decides to just flop down messily. Akamaru follows his lead and plops down next to him.

“First off,” Shikamaru says, “know that my dad’s home and is undoubtedly listening in.”

He can practically hear the silent “stupid, old man” added to that sentence. He tilts his head in acknowledgement.

“Second, if this is about what I think it’s about, you’re going to need his help anyway.”

 _You’re going to owe him one_ , Shikamaru doesn’t say.

He hears the warning in Shikamaru’s voice and clamps down on the instinctive urge to bare his teeth. The Nara is only giving him notice, not trying to make a threat.

Shikamaru eyes him with a frown. He can’t begin to understand what’s going through that mind, but he knows what needs to be said.

“Yeah,” he verbalizes his agreement, “I’m going to need help to keep the peace in Konoha.”

“The peace in Konoha?” Shikamaru repeats, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yep,” he nods, “this is a job too big for just me. Got to keep Konoha from ripping itself a new one.”

“This is about Konoha and not what’s going on between the Hyuuga and the Inuzuka?” Shikamaru asks with narrow eyes.

He almost says, “Of course it’s about the Hyuuga.” The look on the Nara’s face gives him pause. He thinks over everything said and tries to find what he’s missing.

Konoha is the keyword, Akamaru tells him so softly he almost misses it.

“This is a Konoha affair,” he eventually says. “It’s more than a possible feud between two clans. It’s—”

Shikamaru motions at him to shut up. He closes his mouth with a click. Shikamaru taps a finger against a knee and stares at a spot on the wall.

“For Konoha, huh?” Shikamaru mutters. “We can work with that.”

He does his best not to shift uncomfortably. A lot of things have been said in a short amount of words, and he’s not too sure he caught all of it. Dealing with a Nara is like dealing with a demon to be honest.

“Start from the beginning,” Shikamaru demands. “What exactly are we dealing with here?”

He wonders exactly where the beginning actually starts. He decides that meeting Hinata is a good enough place as any.

“You’re an idiot,” Shikamaru says, giving him a look once he’s finished.

He gives the Nara the flattest stare he can manage. He resolutely ignores Akamaru’s quiet laughter. Shikamaru rubs his face, agonized expression practically screaming, “Why me?”

“You don’t know what you’re doing,” Shikamaru states.

“Not a thing,” he agrees, “but I can’t pretend my friend doesn’t need my help.”

The Nara brings his hands together in a familiar position and says nothing. An uncomfortable tension settles in his gut. He knows Shikamaru is taking the time to consider points, weigh options, and make decisions. It doesn’t help his nervousness in the slightest.

“I need to see Chouji, Sasuke, and Neji,” Shikamaru declares after a long moment.

“Neji?” He questions.

“Looks like he finally has a use,” Shikamaru quips sardonically. “You need to go see Ino, Naruto, and Shino.”

He blinks at Shikamaru. This is honestly going faster than he was expecting.

“Here’s what you need to say to them. Don’t use my words exactly. It needs to sound like it came from you. Make it as heartfelt and pathetic sounding as you can. Shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

He ignores the insult and leans in to listen intently.

The first person on his list is Ino. He hasn’t seen her since the Chunin Exams, but he’s kept in touch through Chouji. He knows enough to recognize he’s in for a rough ride.

It begins the moment he steps foot inside the flower shop.

“She doesn’t like you, you know,” are the first words out of Ino’s mouth.

He only has enough time to blink stupidly before Ino clarifies,

“I mean, she adores you, but only as a friend. She thinks marrying you would be revolting.”

He glances down at Akamaru in confusion. The ninken’s head tilts, equally confused. He opens his mouth, but Ino continues her mad rambles.

“That could change though! When you’re older, I mean. Right now she’s only attracted to old ninja like Kurenai and Asuma-sensei. I mean, ew, right? Kurenai’s pretty, I suppose, but Asuma-sensei? That’s like,” Ino wrinkles her nose in disgust. “At least she doesn’t find Kakashi attractive. Could you imagine? She’d probably dissect dogs to find some kind of heat pheromone or something to get his attention.”

It clicks into place.

“Sakura,” he says, “you were inside her head. You’ve _seen_ her.”

Ino’s hand convulses around the watering can she’s holding, and she looks past him to a spot on the wall. He wants to turn around and walk out the door.

“Are you okay?” He asks instead. “Was your chakra affected?”

“No, I’m fine,” Ino says with a shadow of a smile. “Just processing. Yamanaka techniques, am I right?”

He gives her a flat look.

“No, really, I’ll be fine,” Ino says gently. “Sakura’s not the first outlier encountered by our mind jutsu. I have to compress and compartmentalize, but I’ll be back to my normal self in a few days.”

“But Sakura,” Ino frowns, “she might never—”

“Trust me,” he interrupts her, “she’s recovering. Between you and me, she might actually come out of this better than ever. I can’t talk about it, but she’s going to be the most terrifying medic this world’s ever seen.”

“Oh, I believe it,” Ino nods. “I’ve seen her head. I’m glad she’s on Konoha’s side.”

A faraway expression slides over Ino’s face.

“Very glad, but that’s not why you’re here, is it?” Ino looks him straight in the eyes. “You’re not here to talk about the past. That’s a world away for you two. You have plans upon plans for the future.”

He stares blankly at the girl. He snaps his mouth shut when Akamaru rudely tells him to. Ino smirks at him.

“So what do you need me to do?”

He’s prodded for every last detail before being pushed out of the flower shop by an excited Ino. He shares a look with Akamaru. He really needs a proper chat with Ino, but he’s not too sure he’ll ever get one.

That’s Ino for you, he thinks. Time to go find a certain knuckle-headed ninja.

If he was expecting Naruto to be a bit easier than dealing with Ino—

Well, needless to say, it’s a rude awakening.

“And that’s why,” Naruto whispers, “breasts are better than butts.”

He throws back another cup of sake instead of responding. He’s long since burnt out his taste buds, so there’s no face of disgust to accompany the alcohol burning its way down.

“Not that butts are bad, they’re great actually!” Naruto says enthusiastically, eyes bright.

He looks at the exit to the diner longingly. The server gives him a pitying glance before looking at Naruto with a pinched expression. He’s too exasperated to even narrow his eyes at the slight to his friend.

This is not how this talk was supposed to go. He was supposed to be having a serious conversation over a snack with a good friend. Instead, he’s downing the most alcohol he’s ever drank in his life while Naruto waxes poetry over the female form.

Frankly, he’s hoping sake will be enough to burn this conversation from memory. It’s nothing against the loud genin, most ninja are perverts after all, but it’s just not something he’s interested in.

It’s a shame Akamaru’s been forced to sit outside. The ninken would have probably found a way out by now, one that doesn’t include damaging his liver.

“Hey, hey,” Naruto says through squinted eyes, “you do like women, right?”

His head hits the table, and he pretends to pass out. He is not having this discussion with Naruto of all people. There’s enough digging of his preferences at home as it is.

He forgets who his dining companion is. Naruto lunges across the table and shakes him so violently the only thing he can see is the blur of sound.

Orange, he means. He’s not drunk, honest.

“You’re not cheating on Sakura with Shino, are you?” Naruto shouts.

The Uzumaki’s face is shoved so close the only thing he can see are blue eyes. He almost gives himself whiplash by jerking back in surprise.

“You’re not, right?” Naruto gasps dramatically.

He shoves Naruto away and pours the rest of the sake bottle into his cup. Forget propriety and letting the server pour it. He downs the cup rather desperately.

In the end, he’s forced to order another bottle of alcohol as Naruto becomes slowly convinced that he’s partaking in a polygamous relationship with Sakura and Shino.

He eventually gets around to telling Naruto about Shikamaru’s plan. He thinks he does anyways. It’s a bit…blurry.

Naruto’s graciously pays for one of the sake bottles despite never being poured a cup, and they make plans to get noodles sometime next week. He wonders if Ichiraku’s serve wine.

“I’m not drunk,” he tells Akamaru.

Sure, Akamaru barks up at him, and you’re slurring because you feel like it.

“Let’s just go find Shino,” he says, stumbling slightly.

His attempt to get to Shino’s place is waylaid by the fact that he is, indeed, drunk. He makes it to a bench and decides this is where he’s destined to die. It’s practically fate. He lies down, head hitting the wooden seat hard enough to make his teeth click together.

Akamaru huffs at him and grumbles about doing all the work.

His partner apparently agrees this is his fated resting place; Akamaru leaves him without so much as a backwards glance. He slings his arm over his eyes and tries not to cry for his ninken.

Don’t forget me, buddy, he thinks, sniffling slightly.

There’s barely any foot traffic around his newly-designated grave. He finds himself dozing off in the peaceful atmosphere.

Wake up, Akamaru barks out aggravated.

He blinks into his arm and realizes there’s something looming over him; it’s buzzing. He pulls his arm away from his face, and it takes him longer than it should to recognize that silhouette.

“Shino,” he cries, lunging for the Aburame.

His legs don’t work correctly, and he ends up tackling his teammate. Shino holds them both up with a grunt, and he wraps his arms around the unmoving figure of his friend, burying his nose into that wonderfully familiar scent.

“I thought I was going to die,” he says tearfully.

The Aburame remains motionless, which is fine with him as the world’s doing enough turning at the moment.

“Naruto, girls,” he murmurs into Shino’s collar, “I thought it would never end.”

“Ah,” Shino hums in response, “I see.”

The funny thing is Shino probably does. The buzzing coming from the Aburame’s skin goes from irritably loud to gently soothing.

A couple of heartbeats later, the world spins more viciously, and he finds himself on Shino’s back. Akamaru makes a snide comment somewhere below.

“What are you doing?” He asks, blinking rapidly.

He tries shoving away traumatic flashbacks concerning piggyback rides. The faraway feeling in his head helps.

“I’m taking you home,” Shino explains shortly, taking a few steps.

“You can’t,” he tells his teammate, “the bench is my resting place.”

“You can rest at your house,” Shino says flatly, not stopping.

“No, you don’t understand. It’s my grave,” he says.

“Your,” Shino pauses, “grave?

“Put a rock on me, I’m done,” he manages to say with a straight face.

Shino doesn’t deign that with a response, but he can practically feel the glare. He smothers his grin in Shino’s jacket.

He must have dozed off some more because they’re at his house in no time. Which is odd; he expected quite a bit of loud mocking. He must have completely missed it. No one would have given up the chance to taunt him in this state.

“So that brat went on a bender, eh? About time,” Ma greets them from the porch. “Just throw him onto the bed and leave him.”

Shino halts and seems to be contemplating something. He digs his knee into Shino’s side. It’s generally not a good idea to stick around his mother unless you’re into pain.

“Will the punishment for intoxication get in the way of our training? It is my belief that he imbibed under great duress.”

Ma stares at Shino before letting out a short laugh.

“Don’t worry about it, bug brat. We don’t have any alcohol rules here. You’re old enough for a headband; you’re old enough to drink. Gotta deal with the consequences though.”

He can feel Ma’s stare dig into him, and he decides to keep his head buried in Shino’s collar. It’s not safer this way, but it sure does feel like it.

“You hear me boy? I ain’t going easy on you in the morning, not even if you were out having a drink with the nine-tails himself!”

She must have smelt Naruto on his clothes. It’s scary how she could pick that up through the rest of the scents clinging to him.

With those lovely words from his mother, Shino carries him up the stairs and to his room. His teammate lowers him onto the bed gently, thankfully not taking Ma’s advice. It’s good because his stomach is doing interesting things at the moment.

Shino stands over him, visibly hesitating before moving away.

“Shino, wait.”

He reaches out, and his fingernails scrape the Aburame’s sleeve. The bug-user turns to him and waits. He tries to collect his thoughts, a difficult thing as everything’s kind of floating at the moment.

“Damn it, this isn’t the best way to have this conversation,” he says, rubbing his face in aggravation.

He accidentally cuts his eyelid with the edge of a fingernail. He jerks his hand away with a hiss.

“Perhaps this is better suited to tomorrow,” Shino offers.

“No,” he says vehemently, “you’re here now, and this is important.”

He struggles to sit up, gripping the sheets tightly enough to poke holes. He swings his legs over the edge, and almost falls back down.

“Shino,” he says, bringing his head up to look the Aburame in the face, “Hinata needs our help. I need your help.”

Shino gives him an intense stare.

“What do you require of me?”

“I need you to do the bravest thing I can ask of you,” he tells his teammate.

He inhales sharply before spitting it out,

“I need you to talk to your father.”

Sunglasses shine back at him ominously even as he further explains. He’s got an awful taste in his mouth, and his stomach feels like a shook can of soda. He shouldn’t have worried. Shino agrees to speak to his father, and he passes out the moment the Aburame leaves.

A barked warning wakes him. He doesn’t roll out of the way in time to avoid the fate of being drenched in cold water.

“Rise n’ shine,” Ma grins, holding a small bucket, “time to get to it!”

The whine that leaves his throat is probably the most pathetic sound he’s ever made. It hurts him too. His mother only orders him to get a move on. He drags himself to the bathroom with a sympathetic Akamaru trailing behind him.

Still need to talk to her, Akamaru reminds him.

He groans and slumps against the wall. Of course he does. He makes his way to the kitchen table where runny eggs and greasy aromas hit him like one of Ma’s punches. His mother and sister take turns ridiculing him for being carried home. They take far too much delight in his pain.

“Ma,” he croaks, trying not to throw up into his plate, “I’ve got a plan on dealing with Hinata’s problem.”

The mocking stops immediately. His mother’s eyes narrow, and Sis lowers a spoon, leaning in. He fumbles the details enough for Akamaru to step in, but he manages to get it out. He’s ready to drop to his knees to plead his case, but Ma grabs him by the shoulder to stop him.

“Okay, brat,” Ma says, “let’s try things your way. Training’s canceled, this is more important.”

He tries not to stare. He had figured talking to his mother to be the hardest part—turned out it was the easiest.

They get the ball rolling, and a meeting is called later that week. Sakura waits at his house, largely put out that she’s not partaking. He promises to see her the moment it ends.

The Hokage Residence is chosen to house this meeting.

He can smell faint traces of paper and electricity lining the room, and it wouldn’t be a bad guess to assume this room is used by Intelligence. The gigantic table and matching chairs that take up most of the space don’t have the same odor, smelling like dust instead.

He shifts uncomfortably in one of the dusty chairs. Akamaru sits between his feet. His shoulder twitches, and he tries to keep from tapping against the armrest. A sudden pain to the back of his head keeps him from fidgeting further.

“Stop that,” Ma snaps beside him in her own dust-covered chair, “stay still and keep your teeth out.”

He winces and places his hands onto his knees, trying to follow her order to keep still. It’s hard though. He’d much rather be anywhere but here. Sasuke and Shino probably feel the same way if their blank expressions mean anything. He can’t even begin to read the void that is Shino’s father.

Ino seems oddly thrilled, a stream of constant questions to her patient father. Chouji looks ready to bolt, a stark contrast to the calm figure of Chouza. Shikamaru wears his standard drowsy look like a shield with Shikaku beside him wearing a similar lazy expression.

“Like this,” Kuromaru says from behind Ma, baring his teeth, “keep ‘em aimed at the prissy one.”

He makes a face at the old ninken. Kuromaru makes a far more intimidating one back. Akamaru makes a few suggestions on how best to respond with the little ninken trying to egg them both on.

“We’re trying to keep this peaceful. I’d like to not start the meeting with hostility,” Inoichi chides.

“Why bother? Your persuasion tricks won’t work here. That man only knows how to bend over for old men,” Ma scoffs.

It’s subtle, but Shibi makes the shallowest nod at the statement. Shikaku smothers the beginnings of a grin beneath a yawn. Chouza sends his mother a reprimanding look, but there’s a small smile curving his lips.

The door opens, and they all stand as the Third Hokage enters. Hiashi trails the Hokage with Hinata following her father at a polite distance. Blessedly, there is no appearance of a zombie Second Hokage.

The tension in the room can almost be seen. The Hokage is barely seated before his mother plops down in her seat with a growl.

“Hyuuga,” Ma spits.

“Inuzuka,” Hiashi sneers back, seating himself next to the Hokage.

Hinata, face devoid of any emotion, takes a seat farther away from her father than is proper. The frown Hiashi sends her is telling.

He holds back a snort. The Hyuuga clan head has no idea what’s coming. Akamaru lets out a soft laugh for him. He throws a grin at Hinata before looking to the one who officially called the meeting.

Yamanaka Inoichi straightens slightly and clears his throat,

“We are gathered here today—”

“Because our brats are troublesome,” Shikaku deadpans.

“Here, here,” Chouza agrees with a smile.

Ma lets out a snort beside him, and he tries not to look down. Shibi makes the smallest of movements, and Shino somehow manages to sit straighter than before.

“It seems,” Inoichi continues, aiming a glare at Shikaku, “that our heirs have collectively agreed to enter a pact with the Uchiha.”

Sasuke nods once Inoichi turns everyone’s attention to the Uchiha sitting alone.

“The Uchiha has agreed to hear out the collective clan heirs,” Sasuke says, “with the requested meeting given by the Inuzuka heir.”

Sasuke gives him an impatient look, and he nods his acceptance.

“So,” he speaks up, “as the representative for the ones entering the agreement with the Uchiha. I just want to say,” he pauses and tries to keep from spilling the words he wants to spit out.

Akamaru fills in the blank for him from the floor. He really shouldn’t, but he’s never been one for holding back either. The ninken’s a bad influence, really.

“That this is absolute bullshit that I had to ask Sasuke to ask our parents to meet up,” he continues pleasantly. “Really, no wonder you guys have such bad communication skills.”

Ma lets out a cackle beside him, and Shikamaru gives him a magnified version of the look. At least Sasuke seems rather pleased that this ridiculousness has been called out.

“With that said,” he glares at everyone in the room, “every clan kid here is part of a binding contract. The kind written in blood. We stick together, and where one of us goes, we all go. This includes Hinata who’s got something to say.”

He shifts in his seat and looks to the Hyuuga heiress, effectively pulling the room’s attention towards her. Hinata meets his stare without hesitation. Her eyes are as captivating as ever.

“I will assume everyone here knows of our clan’s seal, the Caged Bird Curse,” Hinata starts quietly. “My request to you, Father, is to either remove this seal, or to apply it to everyone who holds the Byakugan.”

Dead silence follows her words. The thunderstruck expression on Hiashi’s face would be hilarious if the subject wasn’t so tragic. While the majority of the room keeps a stoic face, Ino looks prepared to jump across the table and wrap her hands around Hiashi’s neck. Disturbingly enough, Chouji does as well.

“I refuse,” Hiashi states, face falling into an expressionless mask.

“As one comrade to another,” Chouza says, frowning, “please give the request more thought, Hiashi.”

“I refuse,” the Hyuuga head repeats tersely. “The elders would never agree to it.”

“That is your final answer?” Shikaku asks gravely.

“You have no right to question the internal affairs of my clan,” Hiashi says coldly.

“I’m afraid that we do,” Inoichi says genially. “Your daughter has ensured it.”

Hiashi’s eyes widen, and the Hyuuga turns towards Hinata. She gives her father a heartbreaking look before a sheet of ice falls over her eyes.

“I made a promise with the Inuzuka,” Hinata tells him quietly. “That I would either rise as the head of the clan or fall as the clan’s traitor. That one way or another, I will stop the system that holds the Hyuuga down from greatness.”

“The Inuzuka have agreed to ally with me,” Hinata stresses, “not with the Hyuuga.”

The ramifications take a moment to sink in, not just for Hiashi, but for the Third Hokage as well. Both of them slide their eyes from Hinata to him. Ma places an arm around him, and the tension returns with a vengeance.

“I am formally requesting you to step down, Father,” Hinata says with a stone cold gaze, “before I am forced to make you.”

“What—you—don’t,” Hiashi sputters.

“I have the support. The main house does not know it yet,” Hinata informs him, “but they are currently being held hostage by the branch house. Neji and Hanabi are overseeing it now.”

Hinata pauses before adding,

“Neji was particularly enthusiastic in circumventing the Byakugan to plant the explosives.”

He blinks and looks over at Shikamaru. The Nara meets his eyes, lips twisting into the smallest of smirks. He doesn’t need to look around to know anyone not a Nara is wearing a dumbfounded expression.

Damn, he thinks with some amusement, must have been some talk with Neji.

“This is, of course, an internal clan affair and has no bearing on this meeting,” Hinata says, words at odds with her gentle tone. “As all explosives will be contained on Hyuuga property and are exempt from Konoha’s restrictions.”

He admires Hinata’s boldness; she doesn’t flinch even as the Third Hokage stares her down. Hiashi, face pale, moves to say something, but his mother slams a hand down onto the table to interrupt the man.

“Your heiress is declaring her right to be clan head,” Ma grins madly. “We’ve agreed that she is. The Inuzuka see Hyuuga Hinata as the rightful clan head.”

“The Aburame have sided with the Inuzuka’s decision to see Hyuuga Hinata as the rightful clan head,” Shibi announces before a word against it can be said.

“The Nara see Hyuuga Hinata as the rightful clan head,” Shikaku rattles off a moment later with Inoichi and Chouza right behind him.

“The Yamanaka see Hyuuga Hinata as the rightful clan head.” “The Akimichi see Hyuuga Hinata as the rightful clan head.”

“The Uchiha see Hyuuga Hinata as the rightful clan head,” Sasuke says flatly.

A fierce new silence springs up in the wake of their statements. The Hokage has given up his neutral façade and is keeping a palm over his face. Hiashi’s lips move but no sound comes out. Blank eyes narrow to the weakest link around the table.

“Tell me, are you still considered a clan?” Hiashi asks Sasuke.

Sasuke’s reaction is to grip the armrest until his knuckles turn white. He bares his fangs at the Hyuuga man, and Shino leans forward slightly. Ino narrows her eyes, and he can see Chouji’s face go blank. Shikamaru makes no obvious movement, but the shadow-user’s eyes grow colder.

Then the door flies open to collide against the wall with a bang.

“You bastards started without me!”

He blinks as an orange-clad figure begins waving a fist in indignation.

“Naruto?” The Third Hokage gapes.

Oh, yeah, he thinks in stunned disbelief, Naruto. The boy had been chosen to be morale support for Hinata. His teammate had been so calm and collected, he’d actually forgotten about the missing Uzumaki.

“Listen up, Gramps!”

There’s a lot of choking at the name. The wild card has appeared, Akamaru quips. Ma huffs a laugh next to him, and he bites down the grin threatening to cross his face.

“You want Konoha to stay the best, right? Pretending things are still the same as they were a hundred years ago isn’t going to help nobody!” Naruto shouts, finger pointing straight at the Hokage.

“Everyone here is a part of this village! Everyone here bleeds and sweats for this place. No matter how we grew up or how we’re seen,” Naruto finger wavers as his voice lowers, “Konoha is home.”

“So everyone here is family whether they like it or not! That means we look out for each other. Keeping your eyes shut because you don’t want to piss off a bunch of morons is stupid! Don’t try to put a lid on a pot of boiling water because that’s not going to keep the water from leaving!”

Here Naruto pivots around to bring up the finger of blame at Hiashi.

“And you! Hinata trusted you and you’ve failed her hard, old man!”

Hiashi rears back as if suddenly slapped; the expression on that face is one he’ll treasure forever.

“Not once did Hinata ever feel safe being a Hyuuga, but she loves her family anyways. She wants what’s best for everyone, not just herself. She’s willing to do what it takes to make family, family again.”

He looks over at Hinata. She’s staring at Naruto with wide eyes, hanging onto his every word. He doesn’t bother fighting back the grin anymore.

“Do you think she’ll let her sister down because some old guy said so?” Naruto’s eyes sear into Hiashi’s. “No, not ever! Because Hinata won’t let anyone stop her, and she’s just getting started!”

It’s brilliant. Naruto couldn’t possibly understand how hard those words are hitting the Hyuuga head. Naruto truly is amazing.

“Just look around this table!” Naruto makes a sweeping motion with his arms. “This is the next generation of Konoha. Everyone’s here because they care, because they want to be here. Hinata has everyone to help her out, and it’s going to stay that way.”

The loudmouth pumps a fist before bringing it down on the table with enough force to nearly break it.

“Our bonds are the bonds that last forever!” Naruto declares.

The silence that follows seems to wrap around the Uzumaki’s still form, enhancing striking blue eyes. Naruto looks at them all before lingering on Hiashi whose head lowers in response.

Shikaku is giving Naruto a considering glance, and he wonders if the other clan heads are figuring it out too. Naruto’s real power has never been his ability to fight, and it never will be.

“You are right.”

It’s said so quietly, he almost misses it in his contemplation of Naruto.

“You are absolutely right,” Hiashi says, staring at the table. “I have failed Hinata. I have failed both my children. My wife, my brother, Neji, I have failed them all.”

It’s said so brokenly. It makes him wonder if the man hadn’t been broken all along. He tilts his head and considers it. Hyuuga are said to be good at appearances, he muses.

“I told myself that I would never have allowed them to seal my daughter,” Hiashi continues, eyes still downcast, “that it was only to scare her into assuming her duties more seriously.”

“I,” Hiashi hesitates, “wish to—”

The Hyuuga inhales and brings his head up to look Hinata straight in the eye.

“I wish to see this greatness you talk about. I want our family to be family. I want to have _not failed._ ”

It’s Hinata’s turn to wear the astounded expression. Her figure trembles slightly, and his heart clenches for her. He dares to hope that Hiashi’s next words will be—

“I will step down as clan head. You, Hinata, will take my place.”

He lets out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. Akamaru, who will deny it later, gives out a happy squeak. Ino lets out a squeal, and Chouji’s face lights up in happiness.

Shino gives Sasuke a satisfied nod which the Uchiha returns. Shikamaru is giving longing looks to the door, and Naruto watches it all with a wide grin.

“If,” Hiashi continues with a morose expression, “you will allow me. I would like to support you through and perhaps past the transition.”

The smile that graces Hinata’s face is small but all the more bright for it.

“I want for nothing more than for you to guide me,” Hinata says, eyes wet. “I would like for us to do this together.”

“All right, people. Meeting adjourned. Let’s give them some privacy,” the Hokage says, waving them out.

“I suppose that means no objections from your corner then, Lord Hokage,” Inoichi notes.

The Third Hokage gives Naruto a long look before closing his eyes with a sigh.

“It appears the next generation has found their voice rather quickly,” the Hokage says.

The Third Hokage’s eyes open only to narrow at Inoichi.

“I’m going to pretend there wasn’t a threat of open war declared in front of me,” the Hokage utters blandly before walking away.

The older Yamanaka drags a resisting Ino from the room. Apparently it’s too good of a show for her to give up without a fuss. He shoves himself out of the chair and stretches. A clawed hand ruffles his hair, and he peers up at his mother.

She gives him a fanged grin and motions to him. Ma walks away, Kuromaru at her heel. He throws out a hand in goodbye, picks up Akamaru, and follows after his mother. He does his best to match her strides.

“You did good, brat,” Ma tells him. “It ain’t easy finding the peaceful path, not for us.”

“Would have been more fun to spill blood though,” Kuromaru remarks with a sigh.

“Hell yeah,” Ma snorts, “but sometimes fun comes with a consequence.”

The comforting smells of Konoha wash over him. He breathes it in as the pressure on his chest becomes lighter. We should celebrate, Akamaru barks.

“You think?” He asks.

“You played the politics game and won,” Ma reminds him. “An Inuzuka just used political clout against a Hyuuga. Probably even united all the clans for your generation. I’d say a good meal’s in order.”

Well, when it’s put that way.

“We really should invite everyone. They all helped,” he mutters.

“It’s your victory. Just go eat with the clan brats for now. I’ll strong arm the other heads into a more formal event,” Ma says, grinning.

Akamaru grumbles when he almost trips. He sends a wary look to Ma who only gives him teeth in response. He knows exactly what his mother means by formal event.

All he can say is that it will be spectacular.

Sakura pounces on him the moment he’s home. She demands to know everything, and he’s forced to revisit every single detail. He has to repeat it all again when Sis swings by near the end of the explanation.

Once that’s done with, he manages to get Sakura’s help in coordinating a late night dinner. He grabs Shino, Sakura gets Naruto, and somehow they manage to get it all set up by the end of the day.

He meets the others on a rooftop overlooking Konoha’s main street. Sakura spreads out a picnic blanket, and he sets down food from a nearby barbeque place. Shino arrives with bags of salad, and Naruto carries so many containers of noodles that they almost lose a few to gravity.

Sasuke shows up next with what looks suspiciously like home-made casserole, and Ino brings even more salad and some soup. Chouji and Shikamaru arrive together, carrying Akimichi-brand bentos.

Hinata can’t make it and has instead sent a store bought cake via the Neji express. The Hyuuga gives them a contemplating look, but doesn’t stick around. They end up using the roof next to them to hold all the food.

It’s close to midnight before everyone settles down to eat, but he couldn’t be happier.

“Hey, Naruto, how did you know you needed to convince the Hokage, too?” Sakura asks, eyeing Ino’s piece of cake.

Ino makes a threatening gesture with her chopsticks.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? If the village is the family then the Hokage’s like the dad,” Naruto clicks his tongue. “Maybe the mom too? Or is that the creepy old people?”

“And you understood everything that went on?” Sasuke asks, setting down a bowl of soup in amazement.

“Well, duh. Kiba told me all about it. I was just quoting him on most of it. He even told me who to point to and when.”

Everyone’s eyes immediately swerve to him. He’s too busy trying to figure out what the hell that actually means to say anything in his defense. He racks his brain for the afternoon with Naruto and comes up blank. He doesn’t recall any impassioned speeches, but then again he can’t really recall anything else.

“I don’t remember that,” he gives everyone a blank look. “I think I was drunk.”

Naruto starts screeching immediately,

“What do you mean you don’t remember? What about our plans for the future, did you forget about that too? How about our plans for the moon? Our awesome pranks? Our noodle shop!”

Sakura bursts out laughing, and he thinks he sees Shino’s shoulders shake too. Sasuke gives him the driest look imaginable, but there’s a budding smirk. Ino shakes her head in despair and shifts to hide the chuhai with her leg.

“Everyone, our glorious leader for this operation,” Shikamaru says with lidded eyes, waving a hand in his direction.

Chouji slaps him on the back with a chuckle, and he almost goes flying face-first into his plate.

Only you, Akamaru laughs at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One half of the season finale down! For anyone who likes Red vs Blue, hopefully, I can show you what I was working on in my spare time come November.


	8. Life moves on

The dirt, he thinks, shouldn’t be such a familiar taste.

“You want to take on anyone who dares challenge you? Then you’d better start getting stronger!” Ma yells.

He rolls out of the way, and his mother’s foot cracks the ground where his head was a moment ago. Sakura charges in with purple nails swiping towards Ma. It gives him a moment to catch his breath.

A little help here, Akamaru whimpers from beneath Kuromaru’s gigantic paw.

Shino lands a kick onto his mother’s ninken before he can move to his partner’s defense. Kuromaru stumbles back, and Akamaru makes a break for it.

Sakura is going one-on-one with Ma, and Akamaru is teaming up with Shino to keep Kuromaru busy.

“So where’s—”

“Don’t lose focus,” Shibi warns, appearing in front of him suddenly.

He’s sent flying with a kick to the side. He manages to land on his feet, and surges forward with a punch. Shibi dodges easily. A blow to the chest sends him reeling, and he has trouble dodging the following hits.

A glance tells him that Sakura and Shino are being overwhelmed as much as he is.

“Regroup!” He orders, jumping away from Shibi.

Sakura and Shino are immediately by his side; Akamaru, panting heavily, guards the front. Shibi, Ma, and Kuromaru stand before them, barely sweating. Ma sends him a frightening grin.

He takes a breath.

“Go!” He yells.

Akamaru and he lunge forward. Sakura spins around Kuromaru’s snapping jaws, and Shino manages to evade Shibi’s attack.

They go for a single target: his mother.

His fist meets Ma’s own, and Sakura goes in for a hit.

He moves out of Sakura’s way with years of experience guiding him. He doesn’t realize she’s going to get Shino, who’s been behind him this whole time, until he sees the bug-user out of the corner of his eye.

He doesn’t have time to stop and think. He shoves an arm out between the two of them, and a chakra nail goes straight through his hand.

Wide, green eyes meet his in shock. He grits his teeth together and tries not to move.

“Turn them off, girl!” Ma barks.

Sakura withdraws her chakra immediately, face pale. He breathes out through his nose harshly as the blood begins pouring out.

“I can fix that,” Sakura says, hand reaching out to his.

“Don’t even think about it!” Ma snarls, snatching Sakura’s hand away.

“You’re not to heal anything more than a nick! Bug brat,” Ma addresses Shino, “get your med kit out and show me you know how to do the basics.”

A sterile pad is shoved around his hand, and he bites back a curse. Shino lifts his hand and pokes hard above his wrist. Sakura bites her lip, and he tries not to show any more signs of pain.

“I thought I was done with hurting you,” Sakura whispers angrily. “I keep losing control and making you bleed. I thought I was done!”

While he has been injured more than usual this past month, it really isn’t her fault this time. He opens his mouth to tell her so.

“It’s—”

“My fault,” Shino interrupts.

He blinks at the Aburame. Shino avoids his eyes, focusing on wrapping gauze around the pad covering his hand.

“It is clear to me that I was the one in error. Why? Had I recognized your positions and the ensuing patterns, I would have not have made such a misstep.”

“Shino,” Sakura calls softly, eyebrows drawn.

“It is no one’s fault,” Shibi says, suddenly looming over them. “One must realize that this is a normal occurrence between those who have never trained together at such intensity. Tell me, how often did you accidentally injure your teammates upon graduation?”

He certainly remembers accidently throwing Hinata into a tree and panicking until his teacher stepped in. They give each other looks.

Shibi nods in satisfaction.

“Now sit tight! We’re going to go grab some stupid medic and be right back!” Ma says.

Shibi turns, giving Ma a quizzical look.

“Would it not be better to go to the hospital instead? I also believe I am able to—”

“Nope,” Ma throws an arm around Shibi’s shoulders, “we’re going to go find a stupid medic. Now.”

They watch Ma drag Shibi off; the Aburame puts up no resistance in his mother’s iron-clad grip.  Kuromaru follows behind with an air of exasperation.

“I can honestly say this is scary,” he says with some disbelief.

Shino doesn’t say anything, but the gauze wrapping around his hand tightens harshly. Sakura lets out a chiding click with her tongue, and Shino loosens it quickly.

“I feel like they’re plotting something. As if,” Sakura glances at Shino hesitantly.

“As if,” he prods.

“You don’t think your mother would try to marry me to Shino, do you?” Sakura questions.

Shino stiffens, halting in the placement of a bandage. The Aburame maintains a gentle grip, but he keeps a wary eye on his still-bleeding hand.

Sakura is still giving Shino an anxious look, but he doesn’t really have to think about it.

“Nah,” he says, “Ma knows I’d react badly if she tried that.”

Not that it would come up in the first place. He knows his mother has no interest in political marriages. Though they get ridiculed for it, his clan just isn’t concerned with tying themselves to others. It’s a needless worry, but both Sakura and Shino still seem perturbed by the thought.

“If they try to marry you off,” he offers, “I’ll volunteer to marry an Aburame instead. Should have the same effect.”

Don’t pick the one with the flute, Akamaru tells him. Her bugs jump around every time she plays it; it’ll drive us both crazy, the ninken barks.

“True enough,” he tells Akamaru with a snort.

Sakura stares at him before looking to Shino. Biting her lip, she brings up a hand past her ear to touch the cloth of her headband.

“I suppose if there’s no choice,” Sakura starts slowly, “I—”

Before she can finish, a familiar voice rings through the training grounds.

“Alright, maggots! Time to get back to it!”

He gives Sakura a curious look as a disheveled medic stomps towards then. He wonders just what Sakura was going to say. Then the medic starts snapping orders at him, and he gives it no more thought.

Ma decides this is the perfect time to practice fighting while crippled and forces him to fight one-handed. He looks forward to his bed and is more than glad for the day to be over.

He regrets that thought when he’s looking at a scroll with a familiar seal attached to it at breakfast.

“What is this?” He asks, keeping his distance from the bound paper.

“You know full well what that is,” Sis tells him with a snort.

He sets aside his plate, no longer hungry. His sister eats calmly next to him, but he can feel the tension rolling off of her. Sis is probably as anxious about the missive as he is. He looks down at Akamaru.

Going to have to open it eventually, the ninken says.

He lets out a deep breath and breaks the scroll open. His eyes scan the document, and he tries not to scream. He can’t turn down a summons from the Hokage, but damn if he doesn’t want to.

He makes his way to the cemetery as specified in the scroll. He tries not to give in to the feeling in his gut, the one screaming at him to run as far and as fast away as he can.

Breathe, Akamaru urges.

He takes a deep breath and smells it. That ungodly scent appears a mere second before the man.

“Inuzuka,” a deep and unfamiliar voice calls.

He grits his teeth and looks up into the intimidating face of the Second Hokage. Cold, red eyes and peeling skin greet him.

He can’t figure out if he wants to move towards or away from the man.

It’s not something he can truly describe. The Second Hokage is both revolting and intoxicating. There’s nothing that can compare to the smell of rotting flesh and warped chakra meshing together.

If that had been the end of it, he’d be able to dampen his senses and go on with his life.

It’s an unfortunate fact that Senju Tobirama is completely fluent in Inuzuka language. It is the Second, not the First, who persuaded the Inuzuka clan to join Konoha after all.

“Lord Hokage,” he acknowledges.

Tobirama stares him down with arms crossed. He bites the inside of his cheek and makes no move to say anything. The Senju’s right shoulder moves slightly, and Akamaru hides behind his legs.

“You want to know what the Sage said to me?” He asks.

“Only if it’s different from what you told the Haruno girl,” Tobirama tells him.

“Nope,” he says, “guess we’re done here then.”

He turns on his heel. He feels a burst of chakra at his back and grits his teeth. His nails dig into his palms as his hands clench into fists.

“I didn’t excuse you.”

Step carefully, Akamaru pleads.

“Then tell me what you want, so I can get away from you,” he turns towards the Second with a scowl. “You have to know how my clan sees you.”

That’s not careful, Akamaru barks.

“It must be unnerving to smell something not part of this world and to see the moving remains of the one you pledged your allegiance to,” Tobirama notes, making no mention of his insubordination.

“That was Hitomi who made that vow. I only follow the current clan leader,” he says.

Inuzuka Hitomi had been the one to merge the clan into Konoha. The woman’s beat down by Senju Tobirama was legendary as was her wolf-hybrid partner, O-gin.

Tobirama says nothing to that. The silence gets to him.

“I can also smell your sacrifice. His chakra is moving with yours,” he divulges.

“Ah,” Tobirama blinks, “you do indeed have the greatest sense of smell of your generation. Tell me, do you recognize it?”

He closes his eyes. He remembers the smell of blood and warped laughter.

“Zaku.”

He hasn’t told Sakura. The moment the Second Hokage came in range, he could tell that Zaku had still been used to revive the dead Hokage.

It disturbs him that prisoners can be used to summon the dead. That he had a hand in this abomination.

“It is thanks to you that I am here,” Tobirama says, echoing his thoughts.

He flinches and lowers his head. Everything about this is wrong. Akamaru nudges him desperately.

“You are so young yet so dangerous,” the Senju muses. “With enough experience, you’ll be more powerful than Hitomi.”

He eyes the ground, trying to hide his distaste. The dead should stay dead, he thinks not for the first time.

“Show me if you can carry the weight of the world.”

Kiba, Akamaru whimpers, watch out!

He looks up only to get a sandal to the face. He’s sent reeling backwards, and a hit to the throat has him doubling over.

“Is this all you will do?”

He’s knocked onto his back. A foot stomps down onto his chest, and he struggles for breath. The sandal applies more pressure.

I can’t, he thinks, _I can’t_.

“Kiba!”

He can’t move. He’s not strong enough to even lift his arm. The figure says something mockingly above him, but he can’t make the words out.

“ _Kiba!_ ”

His body isn’t responding to him. He can’t breathe. He doesn’t know what to do. Akamaru isn’t doing anything.

“Sorry about this!”

Something strikes the back of his neck, and he inhales at the sudden pain. He gasps again when his vision clears.

He’s on his knees, hands gripping the dirt tightly, and the only thing above him is—

“Sakura!” He breathes.

“What the hell were you thinking? To cast that level of genjutsu on Kiba?” Sakura demands.

“You would speak to me in such a way?” Tobirama asks through narrow eyes.

He wants to tell Sakura not to mess around, to bow her head and say sorry. This man is too dangerous, he tries to say. His throat remains closed, and he watches as she crosses her arms and lifts her chin.

“I show respect when respect is earned,” Sakura says lowly. “I can’t respect someone who tortures genin for no good reason.”

He feels the air leave his lungs once more as Tobirama releases an overwhelming killer intent. Such power, he thinks struggling to move, he’s never felt such a thing.

Sweat dribbles down his neck, and he feels his heartbeat in his throat. He sees the trembling in Sakura’s frozen form above him.

Sakura, he thinks wildly through the panic, have to help Sakura.

“I,” Sakura gasps out, “won’t be moved!”

He blinks dazedly as the killer intent suddenly disappears. He feels a cool rush of wind touching his sweat-soaked skin. It’s over then.

His fingernails dig into the dirt. No, he thinks. He’s not ready to give up here. He braces his hands against the ground and shoves himself up.

Staggering, he stands beside Sakura and gives the Senju his best snarling look.

“I don’t care what you do to me,” he growls, “but if you think I’ll just lie here and let you hurt her!”

Red eyes stare into his unflinchingly, and he pulls back his lips even more. Another blast of killing intent is released, but he’s ready this time.

He knocks his shoulder into Sakura’s, and they both dash forward. He goes in low, and Sakura goes in high. He can hear the hum of Sakura’s chakra nails activating, and he decides to reinforce his own nails in response.

Attacking the Second Hokage is suicide, but he refuses to bare his neck any longer.

The Senju fades away from their attack, and they’re forced to jump back. Sakura swears and starts looking around. She keeps her back to his, frame tense for a surprise attack.

He should be doing the same thing, only…

Something’s not right. He can’t smell Tobirama’s scent which could be attributed to the ninja’s knowledge of Inuzuka, but there’s something else missing. The grass, the wind, he smells these.

What’s missing?

The graves, he realizes. He can’t smell the unique scent of the graves. The marble’s base scent is correct, but he can’t smell the lingering odor of ash and sake.

It’s as if it never existed to begin with.

Wait, he thinks with widening eyes.

“Sakura,” he calls over his shoulder, “you snapped me out of a genjutsu, right?”

“Yeah,” she replies, “you were writhing on the ground. You kept clutching at your chest.”

He looks at the dirt underneath his fingernails. Nothing for it then, he thinks. He throws his head back and inhales. He funnels chakra to his nose and then _pushes_.

He enhances his senses as far as they can go. He filters out the smells until there’s nothing left. It’s only then that he catches the scent of what he’s looking for.

“Sorry it took me so long to realize, Akamaru,” he says.

Sakura makes a confused sound. He offers her a tired grin.

“You never got me out of the genjutsu,” he says. “You were pulled in instead.”

“Wait, you mean—” Sakura is cut off as the world around them fades away.

They both blink as the world reorients itself. He sways as Konoha’s scents slam into him all at once. He screws his eyes shut as he tries to cut off the chakra enhancement to his nose. He tries not to panic when it doesn’t work.

“Pull it back slowly.”

Something cold pokes him in the curve of his nose and energy floods the chakra point. It’s easier to reel in his senses, and he slowly puts the barriers back in place. The pressure and outside chakra disappears the minute he’s back to normal.

When he opens his eyes, it’s to the Second Hokage standing far too close to him. He takes a very large step backward.

Akamaru leaps at him from the ground near his feet. He catches the ninken with a smile. Akamaru calls his name tenderly.

“Hey, buddy,” he says, squeezing the ninken slightly.

“I knew your clan was reckless,” Tobirama says, “but surely you knew enhancing to that extent while under a genjutsu is stupid.”

He shrugs,

“Can’t say I’m a smart person.”

Tobirama snorts in response.

“Just what,” Sakura starts slowly, “the hell was that about?”

He resolutely does not shift closer to the Second Hokage, no matter what Akamaru says.

“It should be obvious,” Tobirama says.

Sakura’s eyes narrow, and he decides to speak up before she gets them both killed.

“It was a test. For what, I’m not sure,” he gives the Hokage a look, “but he wanted to test us.”

“Indeed,” the Senju nods, “I also desired to know if you could dispel such a genjutsu or at least figure one had been cast.”

“Why?” Sakura wants to know.

“Originally, I wanted to see the true nature of the boy that had Saru in fits,” Tobirama gives him a look, “and then I sensed you, Haruno, heading this way. I decided to modify the plan a bit.”

“Oi, how’d you know where I’d be?” He asks, turning towards Sakura.

“I,” Sakura looks away, “I may have read your summons.”

“But it’s in my jacket?”

He digs through the inside of his jacket. His hand comes up with nothing, and he searches the rest of his pockets for the scroll. He gives Sakura a disbelieving look.

“I may have also bribed Akamaru to leave behind important letters in your room,” Sakura confesses.

He turns the disbelieving stare to Akamaru. The ninken starts rambling about the weather. He lets go of his partner without warning, and Akamaru falls to the ground with a yelp.

“Kodama did the same thing,” a chuckle interrupts them.

They share a glance before looking at the Second Hokage.

“My grandfather?” Sakura blinks.

“He wanted to know where his teammates were at all times. His teacher never managed to break him of the habit. You’re the spitting image of him,” Tobirama says fondly, “pink hair and all.”

He looks at the Second Hokage and decides to try to see past the rotting corpse to the man underneath. Underneath the underneath, he corrects when he gets a whiff of Zaku.

“Guess I should say sorry for freaking out even if you are a walking abomination. I’ll try to filter your smell out so it’s not so unnerving,” he ends up saying.

“That would be appreciated,” Tobirama says dryly.

The test, Akamaru reminds him, ask about it.

“So what were you testing us on?” He asks.

The Second Hokage looks between the two of them before looking towards the Hokage Residence.

“It matters not. The important thing is that you satisfy the criteria,” the Senju says.

“The criteria?” Sakura and he manage to ask at the same time.

“You will find out,” Tobirama tells them ominously, “and I suggest you work on strengthening your skill with genjutsu. That said.”

The Second Hokage’s rotting face goes back to the stoic expression from before.

“It was not a whim that I summoned you here,” Tobirama motions to the graves around them. “This is the future of all who serve Konohagakure. This is your future.”

“The amount of headstones will only get larger. The list of names carved into stone will only get longer,” the Hokage pauses, pointing to the memorial stone. “Will your names be written here as well? Will you have your family carve it themselves?”

His eyebrows furrow as he tries to understand the point the Second Hokage is trying to make. It’s natural for someone in their line of work to die in battle. To say they wouldn’t was unrealistic.

“No,” Sakura suddenly whispers from beside him, “I won’t have my name on there.”

Sakura stares at the memorial stone with hard eyes. He watches her square her shoulders, and he’s struck by her strength.

“I am going to live through this,” Sakura says firmly. “I am going to bring peace to the world, and I will fucking die of old age, _no exceptions_.”

He blinks in shock before throwing his head back in laughter. He feels the tension drain out of him as he realizes this whole thing was a test for their determination.

Not their determination to serve Konoha, but their resolve to bring a brighter future.

You okay there, Akamaru asks.

“I’m fine, Akamaru,” he laughs. “I just find it funny there was any doubt in the first place.”

“Oh?” Tobirama raises an eyebrow.

“Like hell, I’d just give up and let Sakura go it alone,” he smirks. “Even if Sakura goes before me, I’ll never give up trying for that peace. I’ve got too many important people counting on me to roll over and die.”

He gives a toothy grin to the Second Hokage. He gets a dull look in reply.

“I’m starting to see what he meant,” the Senju comments.

The Second Hokage holds up a hand to stop the question on the tip of his tongue. Tobirama gives him an intense look before moving to Sakura.

“Your journey as carefree genin comes to a close, and the weight of the future presses in. It will be up to you two to support the next generation. You will face much and sacrifice more.”

“Are you prepared?” Tobirama asks.

Sakura and he share a look. It’s not like they have a choice to back out. Akamaru gives an impatient bark.

“Not yet but we will be,” he says.

“Good,” the Second nods in satisfaction, “keep that resolve. Remind yourself of it as much as possible. You’ll need it if you’re going to train with me.”

“ _What_?” He and Sakura cry out in unison.

We’re going to die, Akamaru barks.

“It is true that I do not belong in this world, yet,” Tobirama lets out a sigh, “in the short amount of time I exist here, I am willing to serve the village I gave my life for. If that includes taking on new students, so be it.”

He feels his jaw drop. Sakura has the same expression. His eyes widen as a thought hits him.

“Old man, did you just do a genin test on us?”

The corner of Tobirama’s mouth quirks before a chilling glare is aimed his way.

“How good are you at dodging, Inuzuka?”

-*-

Don’t mess up, Akamaru warns.

“I won’t,” he grumbles, knocking on the apartment door in front of him.

The door swings open, and his teacher looks from him to the plant being held uncomfortably in his arms.

“I’m not lying in a hospital bed,” Kurenai-sensei says dryly.

“Ino said this would be something you liked?” He shifts the pot awkwardly.

Her deadpan stare is giving him a vague feeling of shame. He knew he should have gone with the cactus.

“Forget about it,” he finally says, “I’ll just take it back—”

The potted plant disappears from his hands so quickly it takes a moment to realize he’s no longer holding anything. Kurenai-sensei walks into her apartment, cradling the plant fondly.

“Well, come on in then,” Kurenai-sensei calls over her shoulder.

He trades a look with Akamaru and follows after his teacher. He’s been to the apartment before; it’s as nose-wrinkling as always. Kurenai-sensei tries, but his teacher can never completely get rid of that cigarette smell.

Kurenai-sensei places the plant by the coffee table before taking a seat onto the blanket covered couch. He decides to sit in the chair across from the couch, and Akamaru flops under the coffee table.

“Well, what is this about?” Kurenai-sensei asks.

He tries to reach for words that aren’t there. He gives Akamaru a helpless look. The ninken barks a “good luck” at him.

“I know Team 8’s splitting up,” he ends up spitting out, “and I’m getting a new teacher.”

He feels terrible when he sees Kurenai-sensei’s face go blank.

“So?” Kurenai-sensei asks indifferently. “This had to happen eventually.”

He wonders who the one needing the convincing is.

“Kurenai-sensei,” he says, “you will always be my teacher. Even if you get a new genin team, you’ll always be important.”

He tries to find the words to convince her of it.

“Not just to me either but to Shino and Hinata too!” He tacks on.

Kurenai-sensei avoids his eyes, and he thinks he really should have let Akamaru write that speech beforehand.

“Thing is,” he desperately ploughs on, “I’m not done learning. I still got a lot of things to learn if I’m going to survive!”

Kurenai-sensei’s shoulders slump, and he knows he’s failed spectacularly. Why does he even have to have this conversation? It’s not like his sensei doesn’t have more to teach.

_I suggest you work on strengthening your skill with genjutsu._

An idea strikes him, and he decides to change directions.

“I injured myself trying to get out of a genjutsu,” he admits, “and I’m rusty at using them.”

Kurenai-sensei straightens up, dropping the mask as worry creeps into his teacher’s expression.

“What happened?” Kurenai-sensei asks, scanning him as if looking for injuries.

“I enhanced my nose to the breaking point,” he tells Kurenai-sensei. “The genjutsu messed with my ability to know my limit.”

His teacher’s expression darkens. He knows that look; Kurenai-sensei is ready to eliminate the threat at any cost. He wonders what would happen if he mentions that the Second Hokage was involved.

“Obviously, I need help when it comes to illusions,” he says, shelving that thought for later.

“So what are you saying?” Kurenai-sensei asks, eyes glinting hopefully.

“Would you continue to teach me even if I’m not your genin? Will you help me learn more about genjutsu?” He asks.

Kurenai-sensei stares down at the plant he brought, tapping the arm of the couch. He holds his breath.

“How can I turn down such a request from my star pupil?” Kurenai-sensei looks at him, lips twitching. “It would be my honor to have a genjutsu-using Inuzuka as my student.”

Kurenai-sensei sends him a blindingly beautiful smile, and he can’t stop from grinning back.

Good job, that’s more work for us, Akamaru grumbles from beneath the table.

“Uh, Kurenai-sensei,” he hesitates, unsure if he should push his luck, “would you be willing to teach Sakura and Shino too?”

His teacher blinks at him before hesitantly agreeing. He recalls a message he’s supposed to pass on.

“Oh, and Hinata wanted me to ask you for one-on-one training every week. I think she wants to schedule some tea meetings too to get away from her clan, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Kurenai-sensei pinches the bridge of her nose.

“I’m not losing my students at all, am I?”

-*-

The Hyuuga central house is as uncomfortably unnerving and sterile as always. He follows a servant down wooden hallways and tries not to react to the eyes he can feel digging into his skin.

It takes forever, but he makes it to the familiar side room. Hinata, sitting on a traditional mat, brightens the moment the servant slides the door open for him.

“Welcome,” Hinata says with a bow.

He does an imitation of a bow back and takes a seat across from his friend. Akamaru jumps into Hinata’s arms, tail-wagging uncontrollably.

“No tea?” He asks.

“I’m sorry, but there’s no time for it,” Hinata says mournfully.

It’ll be a short meeting today then. If there’s one thing he’s come to learn about the Hyuuga is that they love their tea.

“Did you speak to Kurenai-sensei of my request?” Hinata asks, scratching behind Akamaru’s ear.

“Yep,” he says, “go see her. She’s definitely going to say yes.”

A small smile makes its way to Hinata’s face before disappearing.

“I hope I can make enough time,” Hinata says quietly. “It’s been heavy, this burden.”

He leans back and looks up at the ceiling. He’s got no words of comfort to give.

“Well, you were pushed into being clan head despite being a genin for less than a year,” he deadpans.

“Yes, thank you for that,” Hinata says.

He’s unable to tell if his friend is being sincere or sarcastic. Hinata just offers him a polite smile. He laughs and slaps his thigh.

“You’ve already got it,” he snickers. “You’ll do great, Hinata.”

“You think so?” Hinata looks down at Akamaru.

Definitely, the ninken agrees.

“Once you get going there’ll be no stopping you,” he tells Hinata.

Hinata pets Akamaru slowly, expression becoming pensive.

“Father’s last order was that using the seal when not faced by external threats was punishable by death,” Hinata says softly. “My first order will be that no Hyuuga born will have the cursed seal applied.”

“Do you think,” Hinata hesitates, “that I’m—I’m doing the right thing?”

He doesn’t even have to think about it.

“Yes,” he says without doubt, “don’t ever think this was a mistake. Even if everything ends up backfiring, you have the one thing your predecessors don’t.” He points to her. “You care. You’re not thinking of only the Main House. You’re thinking of all the Hyuuga.”

He’s gifted with a shaky smile. Akamaru places a paw on Hinata’s arm and gives her cheek a long lick. Hinata giggles, smiling wider.

“I will keep your words close,” Hinata vows. “Even if Team 8 parts, you will always be my precious friend.”

Akamaru whines.

“Of course you too, Akamaru,” Hinata amends, “though I thought that was too obvious to say.”

Akamaru sends him a prideful huff, and he narrows his eyes. The conversation dissolves into an argument with the ninken on who Hinata likes best. Hinata’s tired eyes lighting up in happiness is worth losing the dispute.

He departs never revealing what he had originally come to say.

You’re not going to tell her, Akamaru asks.

He looks back at the Hyuuga compound with longing.

“Nah,” he tells the ninken, “better for her to be kept out of it for now.”

Sakura and Shino had both agreed to let Hinata in on the secret, and as much as he wants to let her into their circle, he knows he can’t do that to his friend. He can’t make Hinata’s burden even heavier.

“Let’s go bother Sasuke,” he says. “He should be done for the day, and that’s always fun.”

He could do with some cheering up, and nothing is better than goading Sasuke into a fight by chasing the Uchiha’s cats.

He gets another missive from the Hokage the next morning and tries not to scream.

-*-

The private office of the Hokage is far more intimidating than the last time he was here. He’s been standing here for two minutes already, and the Third Hokage hasn’t said a word so far. The man just sits behind the desk, staring them down.

Sakura and Shino stand next to him, both failing to conceal their own unease. Shino is too stiff, and Sakura keeps shifting on her feet ever so slightly. He’s probably giving off his own tells with Akamaru hiding behind his legs.

“You three are nothing but trouble,” the Hokage suddenly announces. “Don’t think I haven’t been keeping up with what you’ve been doing.”

Well, shit. That’s not really something you want to hear from the top boss. He doesn’t look away, but it’s a near thing.

“You, Haruno,” the Third’s eyes cut to Sakura, “have been raiding the hospital for medical equipment and experimenting with your chakra despite your standing orders. That’s not even getting started on your _researching_.”

Sakura winces and lowers her gaze. He doesn’t know what research she’s been up to that has caught attention, but it’s probably something related to her sealing projects.

“You, Aburame,” the Third stares at Shino now, “have been poking at things outside your rank to the extent your father has been covering for you. No solid proof for treason charges, but it’s enough to dole out punishments.”

He bites the inside of his mouth and keeps from staring at Shino out of the corner of his eye. The Aburame remains stoic despite the word treason being tossed around.

To be going last, the charges against him are going to be worse than that. He grits his teeth and braces himself for his fate.

“And you,” the Hokage actually brings up a finger to point at him, “Inuzuka, _are giving me headaches_.”

He blinks back at the man in stunned disbelief.

“It’s not enough that you upset the balance of Konoha’s power,” the Third grouches, “but you’ve managed to upset the rest of the great nations’ power too.”

Akamaru actually lets out a quizzical sound, and he’s left staring at the man blankly.

“It is being kept to a select few,” the Hokage says gravely, “that Suna has ceded control to Konoha.”

What the hell, is his first thought.

He opens his mouth and closes it. He ends up trading a look with Sakura. She moves her lips, but no sound comes out. He looks over at Shino, who stares intently at the Hokage.

He’s not sure he’s allowed to speak up, but he can’t stay quiet either.

“Why tell us?” He asks cautiously. “How is this my fault?”

Instead of replying, the Hokage leans back and eyes them from the shade beneath the hat. He feels his heart beat in his throat.

“It takes a sacrifice to use the Impure World Reincarnation technique,” the Third informs them, seemingly at random. “It allows the user to call a departed spirit from the Pure Land to bind them to the body of the sacrifice. It is a forbidden technique created by my teacher.”

He keeps staring blankly at the Hokage. What does any of this have to do with him?

“I know this technique. I learned it from my sensei even though I vowed never to use it,” the Hokage pauses. “I was given a scroll of his DNA should Konoha ever be on the verge of falling. A scroll I thought my treacherous student, Orochimaru, had stolen from me.”

The Third waves him forward, and he complies reluctantly. Akamaru decides to hide behind Sakura instead of following him towards the Hokage’s desk.

“The scroll was found lying on my desk with this note,” the Hokage says, handing him a piece of paper.

His breath leaves him. On the note is a picture of a sleeping cat, and below the image, scrawled in handwriting he’s seen before—

_Sorry, couldn’t get back the First’s DNA! Don’t worry about the Fourth, it won’t work. I wasn’t going to interfere, but I’ve come to realize that there’s more to life than the past. Thank the boy for being my favorite customer, will you?_

“Kenny?” He asks, stunned.

“We were able to confirm it by looking over the contracts of business owners and workers. We’ve also taken a look at those who died in the attack. Only one body is unaccounted for.”

The Third Hokage takes the paper back with a satisfied nod. He thinks back on every interaction with the man. He recalls the bizarre debates over cause and effect that was supposedly about pizza, and how too many ingredients ruined the taste.

It takes everything he has not to slam his face into the desk in front of him. He can’t believe he let his stomach overrule his fucking good sense.

“Arai Kenshin cannot be found, and it is assumed he left in the confusion during the assault from Sunakagure," the Hokage continues. “I am very curious to what extent his connections to Orochimaru lie.”

You and me both, he wants to say. He gives the Hokage a helpless look.

“Of course, that’s not where you actions end, or shall I say begin?”

“You and Haruno delivered to us a vital piece of information. The planned attack of not just Orochimaru, whom we suspected to be nearby, but from the Sand as well.”

“We also took a closer look into a particular genin team from the Leaf when Haruno showed remarkable anger towards them. ‘Try not to kill them’ I believe you said?”

He can practically feel Sakura’s glare digging into his back. He tries not to wince. The Hokage waves him back into formation, and he gladly steps back in between Sakura and Shino.

The Third Hokage gives the three of them a considering look.

“Is there anything the three of you need to tell me? Anything at all?” The Third asks, steely eyes watching their every movement.

He utters the first thing that comes to mind.

“You ever think about retiring?”

“Inuzuka Kiba,” the Hokage rumbles dangerously, “would you care to repeat that?”

Not really, he thinks with a mental gulp, but duty carries him forward.

“You need a successor,” he says. “There’s no way you can keeping doing this forever. Well, unless you wanted to be a summoned back from the dead to be the Zombie Professor—”

He cuts off his rambling when the Hokage gives him a look.

“I recommend Lady Tsunade,” Sakura speaks up from beside him. “No one will object to her.”

“Oh?” The Hokage raises an eyebrow. “And just how would you go about convincing my wayward student to take up the hat she hates?”

“Naruto,” he says flatly, “have Naruto show her the error of her ways.”

“Like the the Hyuuga then? That’s your answer to any problems that come up? Grab Uzumaki Naruto and hope he settles it?” The Hokage asks sharply.

He should probably be squirming right now. His stomach should be queasy, and his feet should be shifting. He looks the Hokage straight in the eyes.

“Yep,” he grins, “he’s got to be able to solve conflicts and convince people if he wants to be Hokage. At the rate he’s going, he’ll be the best ever!”

The Third gives him a long look before letting out a loud laugh. It startles him into jumping.

“Indeed,” the Third says with a smirk, “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen that boy so determined to learn politics.”

“Granted,” the Third muses, “it’s solely so he can figure out how to, and I quote, ‘get rid of the stupid crap bothering my friends.’ ”

Are you sure the idiot’s version of politics isn’t punching it in the face, Akamaru quips from behind Sakura. He tries not to make a face.

“I did not call you three here solely to express my,” the Hokage’s expression sours, “gratitude at dealing with more paperwork. It is to inform you of your promotions to chunin.”

He blinks and turns to look at Sakura. She stares back with wide eyes, and a glance at Shino reveals nothing.

“I wasn’t even in the finals?” He questions.

“If Tobirama-sensei thinks you’re ready, then no one will argue against it. I am granting the three of you field promotions with the express purpose of forming a new team.”

Before he can ask any questions, the Hokage reaches behind the desk, and flak vests go flying. His chunin vest nails him in the forehead. The Third leans back with a smirk.

“Arai Kenshin is not a considered a particularly dangerous threat that a team of chunin can’t handle. Officially, you will be hunting him down.”

The Hokage, hands clasped together, leans forward to give them a serious look.

“You know of the shadow organization hiding beneath the other secretive ones, of that I have no doubt. Your true mission will be to gather as much intel on this organization as possible. Tobirama-sensei will likely have information for you to go off of.”

Sakura makes a startled sound beside him. He tries not to think about the crystal ball technique the Third Hokage has. He tries not to think about the information he’s hidden from his superiors.

“You will be briefed more in depth, which is unfortunately not much, and the nature of this mission will, of course, be told to no one outside this room. Your mission will be an on-going B-rank but will end as an S-rank,” the Hokage leans back, taking out a pipe from the desk.

“There is no turning down this mission. You can thank Tobirama-sensei for that,” the Hokage snorts, biting the bit of the pipe. “You will have some time before it begins, so I advise you to take training seriously.”

He shares a look with Sakura and Shino before looking down at the flak vest still clutched in his hands. He’s pretty sure this should be far more dramatic and world-ending.

“You three have a bright future as an espionage unit that dabbles in sabotage, hunting, and clean up if my guess is correct,” the Third says wryly. “Go ahead and pick a name for your new team. I’ll have it written down for the books.”

Name? He can barely wrap his head around this new information to think about names. The first thing that comes to mind is so stupid sounding, he can’t say it. Perhaps Team—

“Team Fighting Dreamers,” Sakura blurts out.

He snaps his neck towards her so fast the pain nearly blinds him.

“Sir, she didn’t mean that,” he tells the Hokage desperately.

Lord Hokage simply raises an eyebrow at him.

“A fitting name,” the Third Hokage says blandly, “Team Fighting Dreamers, it is.”

The Hokage gives off an air of solemn formality, but he can smell the amusement rolling off the man in waves. He makes a face but doesn’t bother saying anything more. He knows a lost cause when he sees one.

We’re going to be laughed at, Akamaru grumbles in despair.

He lets out a low pitch sound in agreement.

-*-

Thankfully, there’s a break before his training hell begins. His mother puts her plans in action, and he finds himself needing Sis’ help to get dressed.

The “more formal event” his mother drags the other clans into becomes a party for Hinata’s ascension. As a symbolic gesture, his clan ends up hosting.

The celebration ends up being a festival that takes up an entire district of Konoha. Let it not be said that the Inuzuka don’t know how to throw a party.

“Why can’t I wear my normal clothes?” He grumbles, tugging at the irritating collar choking his neck.

“Because you had to go and make friends,” Ma says sourly, “and you can bet your ass we’re going to show up everyone else since we’re giving the damn party!”

He waves a blue sleeve and despairs at how the cloth flops around his arm.

“At least you get to see Sakura all dressed up?” Sis says slyly.

He knows his sister is trying to fluster him. It won’t work, but he can’t exactly deny he’s not curious either.

“Can’t wait!” He nods. “Especially since she shredded her old one and blamed it on Akamaru. ‘No more pink, no more cherry blossoms’ I think she said,” he quotes in amusement.

Ma barks out a laugh, and Sis just shakes her head with a smile.

Streamers and lanterns fill the street, and colors of all kind pop out against the darkening sky. He can smell the majority of his clansmen on the rooftops, keeping silent vigil.

Weapons are drawn as a firework goes off from a nearby rooftop. It explodes in bright, red splendor with howling and cheers following after.

Well, mostly silent, he amends.

“What a bunch of idiots,” Ma scoffs. “Couldn’t even wait until the main event!”

His mother keeps her relaxed posture, so he figures there’s no real bite to her words. Sis just rolls her eyes.

Do we have to have fireworks, Akamaru gripes.

A familiar scent catches their attention. His mother dashes past him faster than he thought possible in a formal kimono.

“Aha!” Ma exclaims. “Found you!”

His mother grabs an arm before the man can use a flicker technique. Ma shakes the unfortunate target in excitement. Sis makes a sympathetic sound.

“We’re going to go find that bastard Hiashi and have ourselves a drink! It’ll be like old times!” Ma crows.

“I assume you are going to hold his nose and force him to drink if he refuses?” Shibi asks dryly.

“Like I said, like old times!” Ma grins. “Too bad Hizashi won’t be there to pass out in a panic! It was hilarious posing them afterwards.”

“I believe I am remembering why our teammate chose to cut ties,” Shibi says dryly.

Understood is that the Aburame is remembering why he chose to cut ties as well.

“He’s just a fun-sucker,” Ma snorts. “We’re just going to have to drag the party person out of him.”

Shibi offers him a nod before being dragged away. Kuromaru pads after them, a chiding bark echoing in the street.

“Do you know what’s up with them?” He asks Sis.

His sister flicks his forehead before ruffling his hair.

“Trust me, little brother, you don’t want to know,” Sis tells him.

His sister ends up ditching him the moment they come across her old teammate. He’s not upset by it; he’s trying to find his own teammates after all. He’s so focused on following their trail; he almost passes by his other friends.

“Kiba!”

He glances over to see Ino near the game stalls. The Yamanaka beams at him, a silver sleeve trying to desperately keep up with enthusiastic waving. Next to Ino, face screwed up in agony, is Sasuke in a traditional Uchiha kimono.

“Oi, Ino, Sasuke,” he acknowledges, “nice get ups.”

“Aren’t they?” Ino twists to show off her kimono proudly. “Mom tried to shove an ugly normal one at me, but I had to have this one!”

“It was worth every ryo, right Sasuke?” Ino asks, batting her eyes at the disgruntled Uchiha.

Sasuke grunts and heads towards a different game stall. Ino lets out an angry “hmf” at the slight.

“Have you seen the idiot? Or Shikamaru for the matter?” Sasuke asks, side-eying Ino.

He has no doubt the Uchiha wants a distraction as soon as possible.

“Shikamaru and Chouji are by the takoyaki stand,” he says. “I think Naruto’s on a date with Hinata.”

He knows the moment he’s made the mistake. Sasuke turns to him with a silent demand, and Ino’s expression turns into one of pure disbelief.

Good job, Akamaru mutters.

“On a what? Naruto? _On a date_?” Ino gasps. “Come on Sasuke, we’ve got to see how this turns out!”

Oops, he thinks as Ino drags Sasuke away. The Uchiha is barely resisting.

“Think Hinata will forgive me?” He asks Akamaru.

Nope, the ninken replies.

“Right,” he says, “let’s get away from that disaster immediately.”

He follows Sakura’s scent to a rooftop that is thankfully in the opposite direction. His newly-made teammate leans over the wooden railing, watching the people below.

“Hey, Kiba,” Sakura greets.

“Nice kimono,” he says, “it suits you.”

Sakura glances down at her clothes. Black and white isn’t very traditional for a festival, but the red shooting stars truly make the garment pop.

“Yours suit you too,” Sakura nods.

He looks at his own paw print stamped one and grins.

“Thought it might,” he says.

Akamaru makes a whining noise.

“Sorry, Akamaru,” Sakura grimaces, “I can’t really move in this thing. You’ll have to wait on that hug.”

He slides next to her, leaning his elbows on the railing. Half of the party goers are probably watching them back, but that’s what happens when one lives in a ninja village.

“So what’s on your mind?” He asks.

“Who says there has to be anything on it?”

He gives her a dry look.

“Alright,” Sakura deflates, “I’m worried and scared. And nervous. And confused. And stupid.”

He thumps her on the arm before she can continue.

“You’re a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them,” he reprimands.

“But how much easier could our lives have been if we just reported to the Hokage in the first place? What if Sasuke leaves and I’m not here to stop him? What if Lady Tsunade—”

“Sakura,” he growls, grabbing her by the shoulders, “shut up.”

Her shocked face would be hilarious if he wasn’t so tired of this. He stares into her green eyes and shakes her once.

“We did what we could,” he says slowly. “We have no way to predict anything. Things could have been worse, or they could have been better. We did our best. We are _still_ doing our best. You are not alone, and you will never be alone. Stop thinking you have to be responsible for everything!”

He expects her to do or say something. He waits for a slap or a sharp remark, but Sakura only continues staring at him with wide eyes. He lets go of her and scratches the back of his head.

“I’m here. Akamaru’s here,” the ninken barks an agreement, “Shino, and everyone else, they’re here. This is our life now. We’re just stumbling in it as much as they are.”

He goes back to leaning on the railing with a sigh. Akamaru stays by Sakura’s side, and he wonders if he’s going to have to hide somewhere once Sakura overcomes her latest bout of anxiety.

Sakura makes a stuttering noise before sighing loudly. She goes back to leaning on the railing next to him, and he supposes that’s as good as he’s going to get.

A familiar odor reaches him on the wind. He doesn’t need to turn around and look to know who it is.

“He’s different.”

“Hey, Shino,” he greets.

Akamaru barks out a greeting as well. Sakura side-eyes the approaching Aburame and makes no move of acknowledgement.

“He is not the rampaging killer you described,” Shino continues, moving to stand at his other side.

He knows exactly who the Aburame is referring to. Well, the air’s already serious, and it’s a long overdue conversation anyways.

“Supposedly it came as a shock when it happened,” he shrugs, “but I think you’re right.”

He gives it some more thought.

“He hangs out with us more than a raving lunatic would. Doesn’t hate puppies either,” he concludes.

Sakura makes no move to interrupt, but she keeps her gaze between the two of them with eyebrows drawn together.

“The sun will eventually rise,” Shino says suddenly, “and the shadows will wither away.”

That’s the key phrase for Danzo will die.

“I plan to ask Sasuke,” Shino says after a pause.

Sakura, who hasn’t been let in on the true meaning of the phrase, narrows her eyes at the Aburame. He has no doubt she’s in the process of figuring it out; that there is a murder is being hatched with Sasuke in the thick of it.

He wonders if she’ll figure out who their so-called victim actually is.

“Sasuke is pretty fond of you,” she reluctantly allows.

It’s as close to a blessing to approach her former teammate as it’ll ever be. Shino acknowledges this with a nod and the rooftop is silent once more.

“So, Team Fighting Dreamers then?” He keeps his eyes on the people below.

Everyone’s laughing and having a good time. It’s a shame the three of them are not down there too. Maybe he can convince them to play a game of kunai toss.

“It is simply a new beginning,” is all Shino says.

Cheers and happy screams echo through the village as fireworks start firing rapidly into the sky. One shoots off so close to them, he almost throws a shuriken in response.

Aw man, Akamaru whimpers, isn’t it too early for this?

“Guess we better get started then,” he says.

He knows he can do this. With Sakura and Shino beside him, there’s nothing they can’t do. The best part, he thinks, is that they’re not leaving their old teammates behind. Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke—they’ll be there when it’s time.

One day their circle will start expanding, and he looks forward to it.

“Where do we begin?” Sakura asks.

He looks at her before looking at Shino. They look at him with complete faith; the changing colors above them give his teammates a soft glow. He is so damn lucky.

“Well,” he says, holding up a small, wooden bead against the firework-lit sky, “we’ve got a lead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting to the end of With No Regrets! I apologize for the lack of Akamaru, the ninken asked for a break. 
> 
> For anyone interested, I have two questions for the next/probably last part in the series:
> 
> What are your pairing preferences, and would you rather read a shorter, more frequent chapter update or the same amount?


	9. To dream of sand

The life of a ninja is harsh and fraught with peril. To die in service of the village is the expected outcome of life itself. From combat to torture, he’s prepared his whole life for an untimely, gruesome end.

He just never expected the possibility of “death-by-overly-strict-zombie-teacher-with-perfectionist-issues” to go on his file.

“Again,” Tobirama-sensei snarls from above him.

He buries his face in the dirt and wills himself to pass out. Pain shoots through his skull as fingers dig into his scalp, and he’s lifted up by his hair.

“Again, Inuzuka,” his teacher repeats in a softer, deadlier tone.

He struggles to get his feet under him the best he can. Akamaru’s long since passed out, and he’s alone in this torture known as “training.”

He’s supposed to be learning to cover his weak spots in his current taijutsu form. It’s not going very well. A blow to the back of his knee sends him sprawling back to the ground.

“Again.”

It only takes three more rounds before he passes out as well. It wouldn’t be so bad if training only consisted of physical conditioning, but—

“Thirty seconds. Go.”

Sweat practically drips over the scroll as he searches for anything that looks familiar. A mess of black scribbles stare back at him. He slumps, feeling a whine building up in the back of his throat.

“Fifteen seconds,” his teacher states.

Nope, he thinks while hanging his head, not happening. It’s like looking at a whole new language that only smart people can understand. He just can’t do it.

“Five.”

“I’ve got it!” Sakura gasps, reaching for a brush. “This one’s ‘space’ which means to complete the sequence you need—”

Out of the corner of his eye, he spies Shino hurriedly marking something down on the Aburame’s own scroll. He looks back to his own paper miserably.

Transform me and give me that brush, Akamaru barks from beside him.

He does as his partner demands, using the Human Beast Clone technique on Akamaru, before handing his more feral image an ink brush. He’s quickly shoved out of the way, and he watches as the ninken starts placing rough marks around the edges of the seal.

Tobirama-sensei crouches next to them to instruct and correct Akamaru as needed. He doesn’t gape, but it’s a near thing.

“Never forget where your true strength lies,” Tobirama-sensei tells him once his team is dismissed for the day.

Training consumes so much of his time that he barely has the energy to take on minor missions inside the village. He doesn’t get to see his friends unless he eats out for dinner which doesn’t happen as often now that his pocket money is drying up.

This, in retrospect, is the normal for ninja. He supposes their genin teachers had a hand in helping them develop their close bonds with their fellow clan heirs. Still, it would be nice if he could have a day off that didn’t mean ending up at the hospital.

“I don’t know why she had to hit me so hard,” he grumbles, keeping a cool towel over his left eye.

He winces as the harsh lights of the hospital make his headache worse. Next to him, Shino lets out a suspicious sounding hum that could be mistaken for concern. He knows better of course; his teammate finds the whole thing hilarious.

“I believe Sakura is suffering from what most adolescent students go through when trying to attain their teacher’s approval. You are simply a part of gaining this approval,” Shino tells him.

He gives Shino an uncomprehending stare with his good eye.

She’s beating you up to look better in front of the demon teacher, Akamaru barks from below.

“You mean she’s got a crush on zombie-sensei?” He asks in disbelief.

Memories of peeling skin and torture sessions mistakenly called training float through his aching head. He thinks on Sakura’s newfound work ethic and desire for one-on-one training sessions with Tobirama-sensei.

“Perhaps a crush on his brain is the better answer,” Shino remarks.

“Must be some brain to overcome rotting flesh and pain,” he says back.

He lets Shino sign him in and observes the waiting room around them. He’s moving for the nearest chair when the recognizable scent of cats and gloom slides through the air. He looks around with a narrow eye until he spots the owner.

“Oi, Sasuke,” he calls, marching across the room.

The Uchiha looks up from a clipboard to scowl at him.

“Inuzuka. Aburame,” Sasuke nods towards Shino who nods back.

He rolls his good eye at the Uchiha. He fully believes Sasuke and Shino are part of a silent shinobi brotherhood, but he can’t get the Aburame to admit to it.

“What’s with the jacket?” He asks, motioning to Sasuke who’s wearing a white medic-nin jacket.

The Uchiha raises an eyebrow with silent contempt. He can practically hear the “Do you have eyes or not, Inuzuka?” He rolls his good eye again in reply.

“Why are you working in the hospital?” He amends irritably.

Sasuke’s mouth thins, and the Uchiha glares at a nearby plant. Akamaru moves into the line of sight and lets out a small yip. The glare lessens instantly.

“Sakura,” Sasuke finally says.

“Sakura?” He prods.

Akamaru’s head tilts, and he can feel Shino lean in slightly. There’s no way Sasuke won’t bow to their combined peer pressure.

“She’s been beating me during spars,” the Uchiha spits out. “She keeps healing herself and using seals,” Sasuke says as if offended on a deeply personal level.

“So you’re trying to learn the same thing?” He can feel his eyebrow rise.

“I’m going down a different branch,” Sasuke scoffs, “one that will push my chakra control to the limit. I’ll be able to use the Sharingan indefinitely and neutralize her seals.”

He recognizes the crazy look in Sasuke’s eyes. It’s the kind of look that sends Maito Gai spinning around Konoha on one hand while Kakashi gets something to eat.

“Does Naruto know he’s not your rival anymore?” He asks dryly.

“That idiot could never keep up with me,” Sasuke replies.

“I believe Naruto was responsible for the defeat and capture of Suna’s jinchuriki,” Shino speaks up in Naruto’s defense. “Admittedly Tenten’s immeasurable amount of explosives undoubtedly assisted in the endeavor.”

“Naruto’s also learning from that Legendary ninja guy,” he adds. “Pretty sure keeping up isn’t an issue.”

“What’s wrong with your eye?” Sasuke questions in a clear effort to change the topic.

“Sakura,” he answers flatly.

Sasuke’s look of pure vindication sends him crawling to a waiting room chair. Shino stays behind to murmur something to Sasuke, and he most definitely does not feel betrayed over the action. Akamaru paws at his foot a moment later.

Does this mean Ino has to fight with Sasuke over Sakura, Akamaru asks.

He bursts out laughing and makes the nearest civilian move two seats away.

The thing about their training from hell is not that their demon of a teacher insists on pushing them to the absolute limit, but that they are actually the ones responsible for their full schedules.

“From Shino,” he says, tossing Sakura a piece of candy, “he won it from a spar with his cousin.”

“Tell him thanks,” Sakura grunts, “I won’t be seeing him at dinner. I’ve got practice with Kakashi-sensei tonight.”

He spins a piece of bread between his fingers and ignores the pang of longing for a slice of pizza. Akamaru lounges in the shade of the tree as the two of them take a moment to enjoy a break before the next training session. With genjutsu lessons from Kurenai-sensei next, he’s going to need all the energy he can get.

“You ever going to let me in on that secret?” He asks as Sakura stuffs her face with pieces of grilled steak.

“Not yet,” Sakura smiles, “it’s not time yet.”

He lets out a disappointed sigh. His curiosity on what exactly Kakashi is training her in will have to be sated another day.

“Don’t give me that,” Sakura says. “I’ll show my hand when I’m good and ready. What about you, ‘Sorry I’m late, I was busy chatting up cousin Sode?’ ”

“Don’t be jealous,” he flashes her a grin. “My old armor’s busted. We’ve been working on redesigns. It’s hard to get away from her once you’ve got her fired up.”

His consistent tardiness leaves him in perpetual punishment from Tobirama-sensei, but Sode’s schedule has his cousin only awake from night to morning. Procuring good armor is worth being thrown into the river.

“One day Tobirama-sensei is going snap and kill you for real,” Sakura states dryly. “If that happens, I’ll have you brought back as my minion.”

“If that happens, I’ll make you regret it,” he promises.

He decidedly does not say that he doesn’t know if it’ll even be possible to bring him back. They’ve got no way of knowing if their souls will end up in the Pure Land or not.

“Well,” he stretches his back, “let’s get back to it. This can’t last forever.”

It certainly feels like it’ll last forever as the days go by. He has to remind himself the pain and sweat is worth it if he hopes to stand up to what fate has in store. He’s not going to be the weak link that gets his team killed. If that means training until he passes out, so be it.

Then he shows up for training only to meet with a pile of iced sweets and an oddly relaxed teacher.

He and Shino share a look of unease as they take in the tiny mountain of ice cream and shaved ice stacked on top of a picnic blanket. Sakura, behind them, is quietly letting out mutters of “Kai.” Akamaru is walking around sniffing for hidden traps.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What is this?” He asks, casting a wary glance towards his teacher.

“Ice cream,” Tobirama-sensei deadpans.

He eyes the cups of frozen dessert warily. Traumatic memories of survival training immediately come to mind. He’s learned that attempted murder by ice cream is exactly the kind of evil thing the Second Hokage would do.

“Yeah, right. So what kind of test is this?” He wrinkles his nose.

“None,” Tobirama-sensei says shortly.

“None?” He repeats disbelievingly.

His teacher’s eyes narrow, and he hastily looks to Sakura. Sending a pleading towards Shino, who seems content to fade into the background, Sakura braces herself and picks up a green-colored cup. He watches her unwrap a plastic spoon and pop the lid carefully. The scent of green tea hits him, and Sakura takes a bite.

Smells good, Akamaru says uncertainly.

“Well, it tastes like ice cream,” Sakura offers.

Shino’s shoulders shift, and he knows the Aburame isn’t going to take the invitation. He doesn’t blame his teammate; he hasn’t quite figured out the angle to this training exercise either.

“You have worked hard. I believe my students have deserved a treat,” Tobirama-sensei explains loftily.

He has a hard time believing that their current torture session has been replaced with an ice cream break of all things. He can feel his head tilt as Akamaru points out that his teacher shouldn’t be able to afford anything as a dead person.

“Huh,” his eyebrows furrow, “so who’s paying for all of this?”

Sakura’s spoon freezes midair, and she shoots a suspicious look at the cup in her hand.

“Is it not obvious?” Tobirama-sensei says. “As a previous Hokage, my decisions have a weight to them that must be considered. Even the current Hokage sees the value in investing in the training of Konoha’s future.”

“The Third’s paying for our ice cream?” He asks in disbelief.

“He is,” Tobirama-sensei confirms, “though it is possible he has not yet realized.”

Ah. Understanding shoots through him at those words. The Third has undoubtedly done something to anger Tobirama-sensei. As his teacher can be downright mean when trying to prove a point, he won’t be surprised if they go to the weapon store after this to charge more to the Hokage’s account.

Still, Tobirama-sensei likes to turn everything into a lesson. It won’t hurt to keep an eye out for any nasty surprises.  

“Well, if this is really just a treat—”Tobirama-sensei makes an irritated noise. “—why? You’ve been beating us senseless since day one.”

Tobirama-sensei’s arms cross, and a shadowed look falls over his teacher’s normally stoic face.

“This body will not last for more than a month longer,” Tobirama-sensei states evenly. “I have been ‘beating you senseless’ because I do not have the luxury of teaching you at a normal pace. Giving you solid basics to work with is the best I can do at this point.”

“I should not be able to teach you at all,” the Second Hokage says quietly as if on accident.

“As it is, you three have done remarkable. You may have complained loudly and irritably,” here Tobirama-sensei shoots him a look, “but you have all rose to the expectations placed onto your shoulders. Enjoy this time to reflect on what it means to live and how far you have come.”

His teacher pauses as if remembering something.

“Also take this time to realize that spite is a powerful motivator.”

He reaches for a white-colored cup as Shino opens a container of shaved ice for a begging Akamaru. Vanilla, he realizes, as he pops the lid open. He raises the ice cream cup in a silent salute to his teacher.

He stands by his first impressions; the Impure World Reincarnation technique is a blight on humankind that shouldn’t exist. Perhaps it’s not all bad though; he would have never known this man otherwise.

He’s also getting pretty damn good at dodging. Getting constantly hit by one of the fastest ninja in history will do that.

They get a mission to Suna only a few days later. He wants to say he’s surprised, but their latest training sessions have been gearing towards poisons and desert survival. He’ll be wearing a basic set of armor as his new one isn’t finished yet, but he has high hopes to not need it.

Supposedly, this is going to be an easy C-rank mission to Konoha controlled territory. He packs for the worst.

His surprise at seeing a normal-looking jonin at the gates in place of his rotting corpse of a teacher is only surpassed by the lone figure of Ino. Sakura and Shino follow behind him as makes for the Yamanaka.

“Ino?” He calls out with some confusion.

“Kiba!” Ino’s face brightens. “I knew I’d catch you before you left. That guy over there said he was part of your team, but I’ve never seen him before, so you know.”

An inhale tells him that the jonin waiting by the gates is in fact Tobirama-sensei. Akamaru confirms it a moment later.

“What’s up?” He asks, fully aware that Ino knows not to drag out a mission.

“These are for you,” Ino hands him a small pack of pills. “They’re specially designed soldier pills. They’re weaker ones with shorter bursts. It also won’t leave you in a coma.”

“I made them myself,” Ino adds proudly.

He examines the pack as Sakura interrogates Ino over the ingredients. He places the pills carefully into his pocket and interrupts Sakura to thank Ino.

Akamaru asks a question, and he repeats it with amusement.

“You wouldn’t happen to be working at the hospital, would you?” He asks, lips twitching.

Sakura lets out a startled sound, and Shino let’s out a mirthful buzz.

“As a matter of fact—” Ino smirks.

Tobirama-sensei lets out a sharp whistle. They sprint to the gate with hasty farewells thrown over their shoulders. None of them have a desire to test their teacher’s miniscule patience.

“Were I at full strength, not even the harsh desert could prove a challenge,” their teacher informs them once they’re outside Konoha’s walls.

“As it is, I am on borrowed time, and my disguise will not hold up to a direct hit. We must take care not to draw more attention to ourselves than we can handle,” Tobirama-sensei throws him a look over a shoulder, “especially you.”

He throws his hands up.

“You always say that to me!”

Akamaru barks out a laugh.

“How exactly are you disguising yourself, sensei?” Sakura asks once it becomes clear that his teacher is ignoring that outburst. “It’s not the genjutsu you use in the village. That’s too light of an illusion for, well, this.”

“Indeed,” Tobirama-sensei nods, “in Konoha, genjutsu is used mostly for convenience to avoid civilians and lower experienced ninja. This disguise relies on a modified illusion seal that requires donated blood and chakra.”

Sakura’s eyes light up into a mad fervor, and he chooses this time to check out. It’s not hard to extend his sense of smell and fall into a guard position. Akamaru will notify him if he needs to tune back in.

They make it to the Land of Rivers with no problem. It’s taken two days to get this far, but that’s because Tobirama-sensei keeps doubling back to lead them in new directions. He doesn’t question it.

The extra time it takes to get to Land of Rivers had little rest factored in, however. They collapse in the first hotel they come across.

“Evil,” he says sprawling across Shino’s stomach.

The Aburame grunts and doesn’t try to push him off. He counts this as revenge for goading sensei into lecturing them on seduction ninja for an entire hour. Sakura giggles on the floor next to them as Akamaru curls up next to her.

“So, sensei,” he says, rolling off Shino, “think Suna will be okay with us since we’re, you know, holding the Kazekage’s kids hostage?”

That had been fun, learning that Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari are all being held somewhere in Konoha. He doesn’t feel bad because they’d try to kill his friends, but it’s weird all the same.

“Expect hostility,” Tobirama-sensei, who’s leaning against the wall with arms crossed, says after a moment’s thought, “the village is already under control, but there are undoubtedly counter forces waiting to strike.”

“Should we be worried?” Sakura asks.

“Most likely they are waiting for a more politically known figure to arrive. Someone that can get hostages back,” Tobirama-sensei tells her.

That’s as comforting as their teacher gets. “Keep your head down and you probably won’t be attacked” is basically all that sensei offers. He taps the floor in thought.

“So, what exactly are we looking for here? All the mission statement said was ‘item recovery,’ ” he decides to finally ask.

For reasons unknown, Tobirama-sensei has been tightlipped and unwilling to talk about the actual mission. He wonders if it has anything to do with why they ran around so crazily.

“It is not so much an item as it is information,” Tobirama-sensei eyebrows furrow. “My brother and I came across a woman once, who claimed to work for a prophet. Pure nonsense, but she claimed this prophet used a particular summon.”

He props himself up on his elbows and stares at his teacher.

“We’re retrieving a summons?” He asks in astonishment.

“Yes, the sand lizards in fact,” his teacher nods. “They are one of Sunakagure’s great prides.”

“But how will we know who has it? Or if we can even get them to talk? We’re holding their whole village prisoner,” Sakura points out.

“The sand lizards have not been in use since my time as none seem able to pass the summons’ personal test,” Tobirama-sensei says. “The current summoner is in name only, and the contract is stored in the Kazekage’s personal library.”

Well, alright, but that just leaves one thing.

“The summoner’s blood?” Shino asks brusquely.

Tobirama-sensei lips curl into a menacing smirk.

“It just so happens we are currently holding the ninja prisoner.”

Their talk gets put on hold for some much needed rest. They make straight for the Land of Wind unlike the day before. He grimaces as both the sun and wind seem to intensify with each step.

Once sand starts getting into awkward places, he knows they’re in Wind, and he swears a newfound hatred of the sun. Akamaru, who’s getting a little too heavy to hitch a ride in his jacket, complains loudly about sand in-between paws. He’s grateful, in this instance, that the chakra he’s using to stay steady on top of this new terrain is keeping sand from between his toes.

The conversation continues once the massive sand wall that borders Sunakagure appears on the horizon.

 “The sand lizards are well known for never stepping foot out of the desert,” Tobirama-sensei informs them. “The chances of a successful persuasion might hinge on summoning them while we are still in the Land of Wind. Sakura, as the one with the best diplomatic skills—”

“Ah, sensei,” Sakura hesitates, “I can’t make the contract.”

His right foot slips slightly as he’s taken by surprise. It’s not like Sakura to refuse their teacher anything.

“Oh?” He can practically feel the eyebrow raising.

“I may have, sort of, already signed a summoning contract?” Sakura squeaks. “And it’s feeding off my chakra in small amounts? And it might make my summons feel like they’ve been abandoned?”

“Since when?” He stops, turning to face her in disbelief.

“It was Kakashi-sensei’s parting gift,” Sakura says, stopping too.

His eyes go wide as the implications kick in.

“No way,” he gasps. “You got the—? He let you?”

Sakura blushes and nods with a pleased expression. Images of Sakura using the Inuzuka style to maximum effect play behind his eyes. He gives her the widest grin he can manage.

“I have to have my own pack,” Sakura tells him in a rush. “Mine are only puppies. They don’t even have their eyes open yet! I was going to show you instead of telling you, but then—”

“Back to the matter at hand,” Tobirama-sensei interrupts, looming over them with an unimpressed expression, “that means the sure win just became questionable. Aburame and lizard summons do not get along historically, so that means you are up to task, Inuzuka.”

“But I have Akamaru,” he protests.

“Who is not a summon,” Tobirama-sensei shuts him down. “My chakra is barely being channeled through this body. You are the only one capable at this moment.”

“We could take it back to Konoha if it doesn’t work out?” Sakura offers.

“No, this mission is too critical to bring another in, and there’s no telling how many ninja might be rejected. If all else fails, we will find another lead,” his teacher tells them.

The wooden bead sits in his jacket pocket, heavy as a stone as they make their way to the hidden village.

“Actually, sensei—”

“Quiet now,” Tobirama-sensei interrupts looking Westward, “we’re about to have company.”

It is not a Suna guard that takes their papers and escorts them the rest of the way to the village but a Konoha one. He feels uncomfortable at being partly responsible for Leaf ninja wearing Sand gear. He shoots Akamaru a grateful look as the as the ninken gently nudges the back of his leg. He lifts his head a bit higher on the way to the village.

The Konoha ninja leading them stop at the gate, and his team is left to their own devices. He keeps a step behind Tobirama-sensei with Sakura and Shino one step behind him. They don’t expect a fight, but they’re not exactly on friendly territory either.

He can tell their very presence here is unwanted by the eyes he feels burning into his skin. He can practically taste the hatred on his tongue; its scent carried on the wind.

“You know,” he frowns, avoiding looking around at the empty streets around them, “not pulling out a kunai has never been harder.”

“And it will stay in its holder unless you want to see if it is possible to take on a hidden village single handily,” Tobirama-sensei tells him tightly.

He keeps his senses sharp, and his eyes forward instead of replying. The target is supposedly stored in the Kazekage Building, located in the center of town. It shouldn’t take but a few minutes to get there.

We’ve got three puppets, Akamaru growls out, coming in from the north.

He taps a message out on his headband. Sakura inhales, and Shino tenses next to him. Tobirama-sensei makes absolutely no reaction and continues to lead them to the center of town.

“That should be the Kazekage building there,” Tobirama-sensei says quietly. “You know what to do.”

He takes in the scents surrounding them bleakly. It figures that their presence sparks a rebellion. He tries to keep a relaxed posture, but it’s hard not to tense up. The wait for Tobirama-sensei’s signal seems to last forever.

The signal is apparently the Shadow Clone technique. Two more disguised Hokage pop into existence, and with them, dark, thick smoke fills the area. He nearly chokes on it.

“Prioritize the summon scroll. Go!” His teacher orders.

He stumbles forward through the abnormal amount of smoke. Akamaru bumps into his leg, and he gets his bearings together.

“Suna will never surrender!” He hears behind him.

He dashes to where he knows the Kazekage building to be and winds up ripping the throat out of a Suna ninja whose weapons are out. Sakura and Shino are at his side a second later, and they head for the building together.

Suna’s clay buildings are designed to force visitors to use the doors. The windows are either too high up or too small. Akamaru and he take point to bust the door down with a Passing Fang technique. He takes out two ninja waiting behind the door, and Sakura takes down a third behind him.

They wait a moment for Shino to give the all clear. They head for the stairs, and his team manages several flights before stopping in the middle of the staircase.

“More are entering the building,” Shino says stiffly. “They appear to be loitering on the first floor.”

He drags in a long inhale.

“Most of the people cleared out of here,” he says, combing through the building. “We should be able to set a good ambush from up top.”

The ones hiding away smell like civilian workers, Akamaru chimes in, so no worries there.

He misses Sakura and Shino sharing a look.

“It may be inadvisable,” Shino starts, “but due to the current situation, attempting a summoning contract may be for the best.”

“Think about it,” Sakura adds before he can say anything. “If you fail, we can head straight for Konoha non-stop. If you succeed, we won’t have to worry about losing the scroll and we’ll have some extra power on our side.”

As much as he wants to deny it, say there isn’t time, they have a point. He also knows where they’re going with this.

“Fine,” he relents, “but you’re coming with me.”

“Kiba,” Sakura says softly, “the moment you summon we’re going to be crawling in Suna ninja.”

He grits his teeth.

“It will be more efficient to set up a defense while you are searching for the target,” Shino tells him quietly. “We will also be able to serve as bait to draw away any one seeking to disturb the ritual.”

He knows they have a good point. He knows this what it truly means to be a ninja with a mission. That he has to rely on his teammates, but—

Trust in them, Akamaru tells him, they’re you’re partners too.

“Alright,” he lets out a breath. “Tell me you’ve got a better plan than yelling, ‘Come and get me!’ ”

As a matter of fact, they do. Sakura and Shino are going to collapse the second floor and high-tail it to a better position across the street. He squeezes their arms and lets them go.

Akamaru and he find the private library in a room adjacent to the Kazekage’s office. He supposes the low security is due to a combination of the battle taking place right outside and how well hidden it is.

The Sand ninja probably don’t realize that the concentrated smell of old parchment and paper coming from an inaccessible room is rather telling. Fang Passing Fang is a quick, easy solution to the inaccessible problem, and a small room filled with shelves opens up to them.

He intends to have Akamaru stay by their newly-made entrance as a lookout, but—

Do you smell that, Akamaru asks suddenly.

He extends his senses with a sharp inhale and sputters immediately. He knows that smell; it’s practically burned into memory. Something close to panic hits him as he tries to locate the origin of that strong scent of lightning and hatred. The odor, he realizes with alarm, is heading straight for Sakura and Shino.

“Go,” he barks.

To the ninken’s credit, Akamaru only hesitates for a moment before taking off. He prays the ninken makes in time to give Sakura and Shino warning. He takes a calming breath, squares his shoulders, and heads into the secret library. The faster he completes his mission, the faster he can grab his team and get the hell out of Suna.

He finds the scroll in a wooden box that’s carved with small lizards. It wasn’t particularly hard to find, but it feels like it takes too long anyways. Akamaru’s missing presence aches, and his thoughts keep straying to his teammates facing the enemy alone.

“Prioritize the summon scroll,” he whispers to himself.

He crouches, unfurling the scroll onto the floor. He takes out the vial of blood and smears it onto the paper. He forms the proper hand seals and takes a deep breath.

“Summoning technique!” He cries, channeling as much chakra as he’s able into the scroll.

Light fills his sight, and the sound of the room breaking around him echoes in his ears. He’s blinking out the spots in his eyes when something small and scaly taps him on the hand. He stares at a small lizard covered in leopard spots. The lizard stares back.

“Hello?” He says uncertainly.

“Hello!” The lizard beams back.

He waits, but the small summon doesn’t say anything more. He looks from it, to the scroll, to around the room—holy shit, that’s a big lizard.

“Um, hi?” He asks the giant lizard that takes up most of the room.

The lizard stares at him unblinkingly. Its horned head gives it an intimidating look. The spikes on the side of its body spear the shelves around it, and he hopes he’s not going to be on the wrong end of them.

“Long have we walked this world and long shall we still. Our mouths hunger for blood and our bodies weep for the bathing of chakra. None have passed our trial since the reign of the Second Kazekage. Bow your head for our judgement upon you, whelp,” the lizard demands in a deep, booming voice.

He hastily falls into a formal sitting position and bows his head. The spotted lizard from earlier settles into a similar position beside him.

“Our first question to you,” the lizard rasps ominously, “are you going to stay in the desert?”

“Uh, no,” he says uneasily, “I don’t live here. I’m from Konoha, land of the trees. I’m also traveling soon.”

He knows deception is normal for ninja, but he can’t help feeling that a partnership built on lies leads to a messy death. The giant lizard’s unblinking eyes sear into him, and he winces, wondering if he’s already messed up. Maybe Sakura will kill him before sensei does. She’ll probably be kinder about it.

“Very well,” the lizard booms.

He stares and waits for the rest of that sentence. It doesn’t come.

“Well what?” He asks.

“Go ahead and sign the scroll. We accept,” the lizard informs him, horned-head bobbing slightly.

He opens his mouth to say something only to shut it a heartbeat later. He lets his brain catch up to his mouth.

“Just like that?” He asks, disbelieving.

“Just like that,” the lizard confirms.

“Why?” He finds himself questioning this fortunate turn of events.

“We’re just ready to get out of this gods forsaken desert. Do you know how many centuries it’s been?” The giant lizard hisses. “Now sign the damn scroll.”

“Right,” he says, biting into his thumb.

Summon scrolls aren’t common per say, but every kid in the academy had been taught the proper way to sign blood contracts. He bites the right place on the thumb to keep the blood flowing.

He writes his name next the previous one and places a thumbprint under it. A minor surge of chakra has it scab over painlessly. The giant lizard lets out a satisfied humming sound.

“If you call me while in the desert, I will eat you,” the lizard says threateningly.

The giant lizard disappears in a puff of smoke, and he belatedly realizes he doesn’t know the name of his own boss summon. Akamaru would have reminded him, he thinks glumly. There’s no way he’s cut out for a summoning contract.

The little leopard-spotted lizard still remains by his side; its head is cocked in what he thinks is curiosity. He turns to it and studies the summon with a frown.

“So, what’s your name?” He asks before it can disappear.

The lizard brightens at the question.

“Oh, it’s—”

A serious of grunts and hisses echo back. He scratches the back of his head in disbelief. He can practically hear Akamaru’s phantom “Sounds like a mouthful” echoing in the empty library.

“Do you, uh, mind nicknames?” He asks tentatively after a moment of thought.

“Oh, I like nicknames. Nicknames are for friends!” The little lizard exclaims, tail wiggling.

He finds himself smiling at the summon. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

“We’re going to be great friends,” he promises as various names flit across his mind.

“Tsutsuji,” he settles on.

The little lizard repeats the name a few times before slithering up his jacket sleeve. Tsutsuji curls around the back of his neck, and he moves out of the room and to a nearby the window. He throws his head back and extends his senses. There’s no one waiting to ambush him as far as he can tell.

He locates his people and starts up a Passing Fang. He jumps out the newly widened window with single-minded determination. He pushes the chakra to his legs and barrels down the street as fast he can.

“I’m going to introduce you to my friends,” he tells Tsutsuji quietly, “but first we’ve got to get rid of the bad guys.”

“I’m hurt! I’m only a little bad!”

He twists out of the way of multiple shuriken to bare his teeth at the thrower. That awful scent confirms his worse fears.

The man—he assumes it’s a man due to the deep voice and smell of testosterone—wears a hooded cloak identical to the person he fought on the rooftop during the invasion.

“So you’re Kiba, hm, well aren’t you a shorty,” the figure laughs, shoulders shaking. “I can’t believe the only thing I remembered about you was wrong! Could’ve sworn you had a third mark on your forehead.”

He’s quick to realize this is someone new. Yurei had been restrained and quiet; the difference between this man and the other is day to night.

He keeps his senses sharp, ready to move in a moment’s notice.

“Inukai had quite the obsession, but I don’t think you were all that important,” the man prattles. “I personally believe it was the Yamanaka girl who messed things up. Have five-thousand ryo riding on it matter of fact.”

Sakura, Shino, and Akamaru are headed towards him. Disquietingly enough, he can’t smell Tobirama-sensei which means there’s no help from that corner. He falls back on the only thing he can do. He stalls for time.

“Life is how we live it,” he says, flashing his teeth. “Who’s got the right to decide what ‘messed up’ means?”

“Just my boss,” the man says blandly, “who you’ve pissed off spectacularly. Feel bad for those poor kids from Sound. Never knew you could do that with a flute.”

“And is that boss’ name Yurei?” He questions cautiously.

“Oh, you know that guy?” The man asks in delight. “He’s my partner! He’s terrible at conversation.”

“I bet,” he says flatly, mind racing.

He has so many questions that they practically jumble themselves together. Irritatingly enough, he can’t seem to grasp the ones he wants to ask the most. He reaches for anything that can stall for time.

“What are you called then?” He goes with.

For a moment, he fears he’s pushed his luck too far when the man’s body stiffens at the question.

“Chirasu,” the man says after a moment of silence. “I used to have another, but I’m pretty fond of Chirasu. It was given to me to fit into the story.”

The man stares at the ground pensively, hands moving in foreboding movements. He can feel the change in the air and knows that the time for talking is at an end.

“Can’t be helped. The story’s all wrong,” the Chirasu mutters. “There’s no fixing it now.”

A dangerous feeling trickles down his spine, and he can feel his heart beating fast. Killing intent, he realizes.

Down, Akamaru barks from above him.

He hits the ground with barely enough time to dodge the knife aiming for his head. His teammates descend from the rooftop above him with Akamaru in tow. Shino stands in front of him with Akamaru while Sakura hovers by his side.

“Kiba, is he,” Sakura awkwardly trails off, eyeing the black coat with trepidation.

He shakes his head in a silent negative. Even without the confirmation, this mystery man smells of sand, wood, and oil and is far too scatterbrained to be Yurei. Disgustingly animated too, he thinks with narrow eyes.

“So the rest of the runts are here. You, girly,” Chirasu gestures to Sakura, “I’ve got orders to bring you back, so you’re coming with me.”

Sakura glares, and he lets out a growl. Like hell, he thinks.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. Nothing bad will happen aside from a talk. You’ll be returned to Konoha safe and sound,” the man says, waving a hand.

“And my team?” Sakura asks sharply.

“Oh, they’re going to die. Can’t help that since it’s a request from Danzo,” the hooded figure shrugs.

“ _Danzo_ ,” Shino spits venomously.

“Did I say sound?” Chirasu holds up a finger and pauses, “I meant you’ll be tattooed with a secrecy seal because I cannot shut up.”

Chirasu moves, and he narrowly avoids a lightning bolt to the face.

“I’ll make it quick, so stay still,” Chirasu yells, throwing another bolt.

He dodges it again, and Sakura dashes forward with purple chakra shining from fingertips. In the back of his mind, he’s amazed to realize he’s gotten fast enough to dodge lightning.

Sakura grazes the man’s stomach, and he moves in with Akamaru to attack from the side. Shino’s bug clone comes in from above, and the only place the guy can dodge is below. Sakura slaps an explosive tag onto the man’s shirt, and he grabs her to flicker away.

Shino’s clone doesn’t survive the blast zone. Akamaru’s growl alerts him to the fact that the enemy isn’t down. He can make out the man’s figure standing the smoke.

Shino’s brow furrows, and he’s hit with the fact that the something isn’t right. Shino’s bug clone aimed for a suicide attack before the blast went off, and yet Chirasu stands.

It strikes him a second later, they’re in _Suna_. He inhales sharply and smells far more wood than previously.

“He must have switched at the beginning,” he growls. “We’ve been fighting a puppet this whole time! Akamaru, Shino, look for the real one.”

The warning comes too late, or perhaps it happens because he says it; the puppet loses its human features to reveal five arms and another set of legs.

It’s fast. He dodges the blade aimed for his face, but it’s a close shave. He doesn’t expect the liquid that douses him despite avoiding a direct hit. He’s unable to avoid getting it into his eyes.

Shit, that burns. He feels his muscles stiffening up and knows exactly what he’s been soaked in.

“Kiba!” Sakura screams.

“Paralyzer,” he grits out before collapsing.

His teammates scramble to get to him, but the puppet keeps them away. He pries his eyes open to see the real ninja standing above him. Tobirama-sensei’s lessons over Suna-made poison come back to him.

“Now, sorry about this, but you know how it goes. Duty to the messed-up leadership and all that,” Chirasu says, waving a knife above him.

He hurries to burn through the paralytic and gets ready to pour everything into a final Passing Fang. The poison will probably take most of the power out of his technique, but he’s not going out on his back.

“Friend,” Tsutsuji whispers into his ear, “I can get you and your friends out of here, but it’ll take most of your chakra.”

A choice between saving his team or certain death is not a hard decision to make.

“Do it,” he manages to hiss between his teeth.

He feels the back of his neck grow hot, and his energy leave him. Chirasu steps back in shock as the sand swirls around him and his teammates. They’re sucked in, and all he can see is darkness. He blinks and they’re now under the hot desert sun. He’s lying on his back with Suna’s wall in the distance.

“What,” Shino sums up after a moment.

“My summon, Tsutsuji,” he introduces as the lizard moves out of his jacket to sit on his chest. “Can apparently do that.”

“I’m a fleeing specialist!” Tsutsuji boasts, head held high.

“You obtained the sand lizard summon,” Shino observes, keeping a good distance away from Tsutsuji.

“On the condition I get them out of the desert. Boss says he’ll eat me if he sees anymore sand,” he says, sluggishly digging into his pocket.

“The most combat oriented guy I know, and you wind up with a summon that specializes in running away,” Sakura gets to her feet, shaking her head in disbelief.

“But only in the sand,” Tsutsuji pipes up.

“A summon that can only run away while in sand,” Sakura amends, “and happens to _not like sand._ Only you, Kiba.”

He’s attempting to tear open Ino’s package of soldier pills when it hits him.

“Where’s Akamaru?” He asks, struggling to sit up.

A startled gasp comes from his teammates’ direction, but he pays it no attention. He manages to get up far enough to confirm there is no ninken beside him.

“What is a ‘Akamaru?’ ” Tsutsuji questions, tilting its head.

“My partner. The dog. Akamaru,” he says, alarm settling in.

“Oh, him,” Tsutsuji’s tail flickers nervously, “he jumped out of my sand pool. I couldn’t bring him with us.”

“I can try to go find him?” Tsutsuji offers when he just stares at the lizard.

He rips open the soldier pills and downs them all in quick succession. He ignores Sakura’s cry of alarm and looks to the village.

“Can you take me back?” He asks.

“You do not have enough chakra for the same technique,” Tsutsuji says with distress before brightening, “but if you can do those chakra strings, you can hold onto me while I swim!”

He’s up and forming a chakra string before the soldier pills can even kick in. His body is sending him signals to wait, but he can’t.

“Kiba,” Sakura begins.

“I’m not leaving Akamaru,” he tells her.

“Tsutsuji, will two more slow you down?” Shino asks.

“Nope! Come, friends of my friend, I will take you to Akamaru with all haste,” Tsutsuji says, tail wagging fiercely.

He wants to say they don’t have to come with him. To leave him, so they can retreat to the safety of Konoha. He keeps his mouth shut and attaches a chakra string to his lizard summon. Two chakra strings attach next to his.

“Keep chakra on the bottom of your feet,” the summon warns them. “We’re going fast!”

Tsutsuji burrows under the sand, and he finds himself being flung forward. Sakura lets out a curse next to him, and Shino’s shoulder bumps into his. He’s being pulled forward, but he manages to find a balance by getting a leg under the arm holding the chakra string.

His feet glide over the sand, and Tsutsuji speeds up once all three of them get the hang of it. He looks at the towering wall, and thinks, _hang on Akamaru_.

He screws his eyes shut once the wind starts grazing them dangerously. Sakura lets out another curse next to him, and he has the urge to laugh. If he survives this, he gets to brag to Naruto about going sand surfing.

By the time they make it back to Suna, his chakra is at a normal level. He wastes no time and channels everything into locating Akamaru. The amount of dead bodies is startling, and he wonders if sensei is responsible.

He nearly collapses in relief at finding the familiar scent that smells like himself.

“Got him,” he says. “This way!”

He takes off once Tsutsuji is back in his jacket. He leads Sakura and Shino deeper into the village while avoiding potential enemies. The trail goes further past the Kazekage building.

The other scent is closing in on Akamaru as well; he sprints faster in his effort to get to his partner first. He spots the ninken hiding in the shade of an awning. Akamaru has an injured leg but seems well enough otherwise.

“Oh, shit,” Sakura says as the puppet from earlier springs out from behind the building.

Shino throws a handful of shuriken, and Sakura takes out a kunai primed with an explosive tag. His teammates break off to engage the puppet, leaving Akamaru to him. He doesn’t make it in time.

“Akamaru!” He cries as his partner is wrapped in chakra thread and hauled to the roof above.

He jumps up after the ninken, Tsutsuji’s tail digging into his neck, and bares his teeth at the figure waiting there. He can hear his teammates fighting below.

“Got your dog!” Chirasu taunts, holding Akamaru by the scruff.

Motherfucker, Akamaru snarls. The ninken’s jaws snap ferociously, and the ninja shakes Akamaru in response. The only thing he sees is red.

“Not for long,” He spits, tackling the puppet-user.

The ninja lets go of Akamaru in surprise as they go over the side of the rooftop. He hardens his teeth and bites into whatever he can reach. They hit the ground, and he feels flesh give way. Chirasu screams and he rakes his nails over the man blindly.

He’s flung backwards. Blood drips between his teeth, and he can feel something squishy on his tongue. Getting to his feet, he sees that not only has Chirasu’s hood been shredded to pieces, but that the man is missing an ear.

He’s got an idea of where it went. He opens his mouth and chews exaggeratedly.

“Well, damn,” Chirasu holds a chakra-lit hand over the wound and looks at him in horror. “You’re not human.”

He swallows and grins. Later, he’s sure to throw up, but for now, he’ll take any edge he can get. He takes a step forward and delights in how the man takes a step back.

“Hey,” he says while staring the man straight in the eyes, “you know anyone with a third eye?”

“You mean that Kaguya lady?” Chirasu blurts out, voice uneven.

He doesn’t get a chance to react as a blur passes him and the man is sent flying into a nearby wall. He blinks and the first thing he sees is enormous breasts. He quickly moves his eyes upwards and sees—

_Tsunade?_

“Hey, broody, get over here and check on this brat!” Tsunade orders, head turned away from him. “Shizune, with me!”

His confusion only gets worse the moment he’s face-to-face with Sasuke, who definitely shouldn’t be here.

“You should stop making Akamaru do all the work,” the Uchiha deadpans before jabbing him in the face with a chakra-lit finger.

“Not happening,” he chuckles, trying to hold back a laugh, “he’s both the brains and the muscle between us.”

“I can believe that,” Sasuke says before falling silent.

The last time Sasuke healed him it felt like currents of electricity ran through him while trying to set his insides on fire. It’s different this time; Sasuke’s chakra feels almost gentle in a deadly efficient sort of way.

“How’s the others?” He asks quietly.

He gathers Akamaru is fine (how the ninken managed to find help this time and so quickly, he doesn’t know), but he’s having trouble latching onto any scent but Sasuke’s at this moment.

“Sakura and Shino’s injuries were healed within seconds,” the Uchiha tells him. “Tsunade sent them to reinforce the gate.”

He feels a sharp sense of relief at the words. His teammates are safe, Akamaru’s been rescued, and the mission is a success. He looks at Sasuke and knows it isn’t over by a long shot.

It bothers him that he has no idea how much danger the Uchiha is in. This organization can’t seem to make up their minds about what to prioritize. In fact, he muses, there’s a disorganized undercurrent that seems to point to infighting.

Tsutsuji hisses out a greeting from his collar causing Sasuke to flinch in surprise. He smirks at the flat look the Uchiha sends him.

The relatively peaceful moment is shattered as a puppet slams into the wall next to them. Sasuke shoves him into a protective position behind the Uchiha, and he reaches for a kunai.

They needn’t have worried. Not a second later, a certain knuckle-headed ninja rushes past them with a massive amount of swirling chakra in hand.

“Stay away from my friends!” Naruto screams, shoving a Rasengan into the center of the puppet.

“Naruto?” He blinks still completely confused by these turn of events.

The black-clad figure of Chirasu jumps overhead with a cursing Tsunade in pursuit, and he decides to figure it out later. He funnels chakra to his legs and jumps onto the nearest rooftop.

“Where do you think you’re going, Inuzuka?” Sasuke practically spits beside him.

“To ask a question,” he answers before making an unsteady jump onto another rooftop.

“Wait for me!” He hears Naruto cry out behind them.

It’s rough going, and he has to change direction a few times in an effort to head off the chase. It isn’t until Chirasu is herded by a Passing Fang technique that isn’t his into the center of the village that he manages to catch up.

It also helps that there is a certain Toad Sage lying in wait to restrain the enemy. The ninja is tangled up in Jiraiya’s hair of all things, and the Sannin wastes no time.

“Are you allied with Suna? Are you alone? Why did you attack Konoha?” Jiraiya’s hair visibly tightens with each question.

He knows Jiraiya is merely searching for miniscule reactions, knows the Toad Sage expects no answers that can’t be heard publicly.

He also knows this will be his last chance to ask his question. Akamaru, tired but proud, marches up to him, and he reaches down to give his partner a gentle scratch. Sasuke and Naruto, nervous bundles of energy each, follow him as he steps forward.

“Chirasu,” he calls, catching the subdued ninja’s attention, “do you have more than one boss?”

The air is tense as he waits for a reply.

“I used to have two,” Chirasu’s mouth quirks into an amused smile. “They stood together, but now they’ve split. Seems I’m on the losing team. Looking at you now, I think they’re both wrong.”

The grin that’s aimed at him is unsettling. Chirasu’s eyes seem to light up.

“Tell you what, shorty, if you survive this, you should research more into the Land of Iron.”

“Jiraiya, move!” Tsunade shouts as chakra starts pouring off Chirasu in waves.

The Toad Sage is quick to release the captured ninja and jump back. Tsunade and Shizune are already forming hand seals as Chirasu takes a step forward.

Akamaru perks up as a familiar, terrible scent floods into the area, and he smirks.

Before the jonin can finish forming their techniques, Chirasu falls over with a gurgle; a Suna sword sticks out of the back of the man’s head. Standing over the freshly-made corpse is Tobirama-sensei in decomposing, blue armor glory. His teacher’s red eyes flit from face to face before stopping on a particular person.

“ _Uncle_?” Tsunade chokes.

“I knew there was something I forgot to mention!” Jiraiya exclaims.

“Hello, little Tsunade,” Tobirama-sensei greets, eyes soft and with a hint of a smile.

“Man, I am so confused,” Naruto whispers to Sasuke behind him.

“What is this I hear about you leaving Konohagakure?” Tobirama-sensei raises an eyebrow.

“I was on vacation,” Tsunade says defensively.

He pivots on his heel, reaching down to pick up Akamaru. The ninken relaxes in his arms, and he heads for the gate. His desire to see his teammates far outweighs family drama.

“I’m glad you showed up when you did, but why exactly are you here?” He asks the two trailing behind him.

“Three days ago, we received a reinforcement request for the team sent to Suna,” Sasuke says.

Three days ago, we were still in the Land of Fire, Akamaru mutters.

“It was really weird too,” Naruto exclaims, hands behind his head. “It definitely wasn’t from one of our guys! It used all kind of weird language, like ‘I urge you to consider’ and ‘uprising from a concilition of rebels.’ ”

“Congregation, idiot,” Sasuke corrects.

The only ones who should know about this ambush are the ones who set it up. He feels another piece of the puzzle fall into place. Two bosses, he thinks with furrowed brows. Cohesive is not the word for this group.

He spies Sakura and Shino tending to injured ninja by the main gate and wills his legs to go faster. Akamaru lets out a bark, and his teammates whirl around to stare at him in surprise.

“So,” he says before getting squished into a massive hug.

Mission first had probably been hard on them too, he thinks. Sasuke swoops in to help Sakura with the injured, somehow turning it into a race, and he collapses in the shade with Akamaru. Tsutsuji goads Naruto into playing a game based on wordplay, and Shino stands guard.

Tobirama-sensei doesn’t take too long thankfully. His teacher’s appearance is enough of a shock to send one of the injured into a crazed fit, but all he can think of is how he’s ready to leave the desert and never come back.

Heading to the Land of Rivers is slower going than earlier in the day. By the time their huge party makes it to a familiar looking hotel, it’s so late that the only things opened are in the red-light district.

That doesn’t stop the oldest in their group from heading out for a drink. He recalls the wondrous look on Tsunade’s face that never quite disappeared and figures his teacher will be gone for a while.

With Tobirama-sensei out with Jiraiya and Tsunade, silencing seals go up, and Team Fighting Dreamers calls an emergency meeting.

Sakura takes a place on the floor next to Shino. He slumps against the wall of their hotel room, Akamaru in his lap, and waits for someone to start. He doesn’t have to wait long.

“I fear it is my fault,” Shino says, shoulders tense. “Why? I was too rash and too careless in my pursuit of justice. My kikaichu must have been compromised and Danzo has labeled us a threat far earlier than anticipated. I have endangered us with my actions.”

“Don’t beat yourself up,” he says immediately. “It had to happen sooner or later.”

“Danzo has all but declared war on us,” Shino’s sunglasses glint in the light. “He will not be content until we are declared dead.”

“And he’ll have it blamed on another nation,” he nods with a frown, “to keep Konoha fighting. Obtaining Suna has to be getting him off.”

“Considering the nature of our team,” Sakura’s fists curl in her lap, “our deaths have actual, real repercussions.”

“An early Fourth World War,” he finishes grimly.

He can see it too. At this moment, their team has the some of the highest political clout in Konoha. They’re not just important to clan politics. They’ve somehow managed to become a special asset to the village itself. Getting a Hokage as a teacher was not a careless gesture.

They sit in brooding silence at the realization.

“We’ll be assassinated if we leave the village,” he says, dragging his nails through Akamaru’s fur, “and there’s a very good chance that those black coat guys are getting into the village through Danzo.”

“We won’t be safe no matter which way you look at it,” Sakura bites her lip, “especially if we’re being targeted by both groups. So what do we do?”

He’s at a loss for words when Akamaru nudges his hand. Doesn’t this feel familiar, the ninken asks, when we were trying to keep the Uchiha safe from Orochimaru.

He stares at his partner unable to comprehend Akamaru’s point. The ninken lets out a huff. What did you do when you were in over your head, Akamaru asks harshly.

“Get help,” he replies, wondering. “Can we get help?”

“Get help?” Sakura repeats confusedly. “Help for our mission or our Danzo problem?”

He feels a grin threating to break out as Sakura’s words throw his thoughts down a different path. Ninja have very specific ways to get rid of problems.

“Assassination or sabotage?” He asks.

His teammates share a silent conversation. Shino nods shallowly as Sakura lets out a small smile.

“Who do you take us for?” Sakura eyes are bright. “We’ll do both.”

“Perfect,” he bares his teeth. “Sakura, your parents will have to move into the clan grounds—”

“Done,” Sakura says, “they won’t put up a fuss. They really bonded with Hana over my chakra issues.”

“—and Shino and I will bring our parents into the fold. We’ll be relying on their protection while we cut the decaying root out of Konoha,” he tells them mind whirling.

“We don’t need to tell them everything, but we’ll have to let them know what kind of mess we’re bringing home,” he hesitates continuing. “We do need to tell at least Sasuke, Hinata, Ino, and Shikamaru everything.”

To her credit, Sakura merely narrows her eyes instead of immediately going for the throat.

“Explain,” she demands.

He thinks about pointing out how Hinata has actual political power and a small army of Byakugan wielders. That Sasuke’s need for vengeance can be directed at the correct person before it consumes the Uchiha completely.

That with Shikamaru, they will be able to plan fifty steps ahead of the enemy instead of being forced to use his harebrained schemes that rely on luck. He thinks about Ino’s mind techniques, and how much she already knows.

“It’s past time for them to know. We’re going to need their help,” he says simply.

The room stays quiet for a long moment. Shino offers an arm, and Sakura squeezes it in response. Akamaru shifts in his arms, and he keeps a hand on top of the ninken’s head.

“If we tell them, then we’re telling Chouji and Naruto too,” Sakura eventually says, staring at the wooden floor. “I won’t have everyone else knowing except them.”

“Tell them one-on-one or all together?” He asks.

“It’ll be hard to get everyone together now considering half of us are chunin,” Sakura bites her lip.

“It should not be impossible if we use our resources to schedule a meeting,” Shino refutes. “As an example, the Third Hokage would have trouble denying Naruto an early birthday celebration given by his friends.”

“Oh, that is downright mean,” he says in admiration.

Hardened heart of stone or not, the Hokage would be hard-pressed to crush the hope of a teary-eyed Naruto. He wouldn’t be surprised if orders were issued to clear a day for a party.

“We could even turn it into a real party too,” Sakura smiles before getting serious. “Just let me talk to Sasuke first, okay? That one needs to be one-on-one.”

“Hinata, too,” he says, “that’ll have to be something I do myself. No offense, Shino.”

The Aburame nods in understanding. He sends his teammate a grin and gets back to business.

“That’s all step one of course,” he tells them. “Step two is going to rely on how well step one goes.”

“And?” Sakura asks impatiently.

“We need to find the connection between Danzo and our mission target. We’re going to do exactly what we did for the Chunin Exams,” he says, “we gather evidence and support. Except this time, we’re taking it a step further.”

He bares his teeth in an imitation of a grin.

“We don’t stop until Danzo’s dead.”

He calls the meeting to a close, and the three of them stretch out on dusty bedrolls. Akamaru curls up into his side, and he’s tempted to fall asleep. Ino’s soldier pills have long since left his system, so he should be on the verge of passing out.

He waits until he smells rotting flesh coming from the roof to put his sandals on. He exits the hotel room to climb up the side of the building, feet slipping a few times.

“Tobirama-sensei,” he stops, hesitating.

The Second Hokage sits at the edge of the rooftop, one leg pulled up with an armed draped over it. His teacher makes no move to acknowledge him, and he feels like he’s intruding. He blows out a breath and takes a seat next to his teacher.

“We’ve got three solid leads, but two might be outdated. And one could be a trap,” he says. “Not to mention there’s a fourth one that needs to be a lead, or we’re dead.”

He rubs his face in exhaustion and squints into the darkness below. The moon doesn’t seem to reach the streets of the town, and the only lights lit are from the red-light district.

“What if it’s all a dead end? Or worse?” He asks.

He doesn’t really expect an answer. Tobirama-sensei is many things but comforting is not one of them. All he’s really doing is blowing hot air. That or hoping his teacher pushes him off the roof.

“My brother’s dream, when he built the village,” Tobirama-sensei eventually says after a long moment, “was for world peace. I do not need to tell you how unrealistic a dream that is.”

He blinks at his teacher who seems to glow in the moonlight. Tobirama-sensei catches his eyes, and, for a moment, he sees not a rotting corpse but a man full of life.

“I have my own,” Tobirama-sensei’s gaze lingers on his. “Dream that is. I wish for a world where children can stay as they are for longer than a few years. Where weapons are not pressed into small hands and thrown into war.”

The Second Hokage’s face seems to light up.

“I see it happening in Konohagakure. Your childhood had peace longer than your parents. Your parents more so than their parents. Perhaps your children, then, will not even know war,” Tobirama-sensei pauses, frowning. “But everything that I, and so many others, worked for will crumble into dust if we cannot even unite in our own walls.”

“No matter what fate awaits you, you _must_ keep fighting. Do you understand?” Red eyes narrow at him, and he feels his breath catch in his throat. “No matter how many dead ends you come across, you have to work past it to keep the dream alive.”

Tobirama-sensei goes back to looking out into the night.

“I have high expectations for you. My brother’s dream is on your shoulders, Inu.”

He breathes in the crisp air beside the Second Hokage for a few minutes more. His eyes get unbearably heavy until he has no choice but to go to bed.

“Thanks, sensei,” he calls over his shoulder.

The trip back to Konoha can only be called a crazy mess, and he can honestly say he didn’t know Tobirama-sensei and Tsunade shared the same hatred for perverts. The glint in Sasuke’s eye as Tsunade destroys tree after tree to get to Jiraiya gives him a cold shiver down his spine.

Good to be back, Akamaru sighs upon entering Konoha properly.

“I hear you,” he agrees, inhaling the scent of home.

Post-mission requires a report and a hospital visit. Since Tsunade is considered a walking hospital, the latter gets waved. This gives him extra time to make a doctored, cohesive report that won’t raise any flags.

He gets his story straight with his teammates ( _You ate his ear? Sakura shrieks_ ) and goes home for some much needed rest. Step one of the plan begins in earnest only a couple of days later.

“You think Sasuke won’t believe you?” He asks, attempting to draw a toad onto a cheap lantern.

He’s failing, if Akamaru is to be believed, but he knows it’s the thought that counts.

“It is pretty unbelievable,” Sakura says, chewing on her bottom lip. “What about Hinata?”

Sakura twirls the writing brush in her hand while staring hard at the written invitations before her. He doesn’t even have to think about it.

“She’ll definitely believe me,” he says, certain. “Don’t worry about Sasuke. If he doesn’t believe you, we’ve got time to change his mind.”

Shino throws a handmade party hat down into the box on the floor.

“The sun will eventually rise, and the shadows will wither away,” Shino pauses, putting together another hat, “but that may take more than a year’s time.”

“Let’s worry about the future later,” he says, handing the lantern to a transformed Akamaru. “We’ve got a party to plan.”

Akamaru colors in his toad with orange paint, and he grabs another lantern. He decides to make a Naruto caricature on this one.

“Friends, I found it!” Tsutsuji hisses, barreling into the room. “The room with the sand monster!”

He reaches down and lets the summon crawl up his arm. He brings Tsutsuji up to eye level and pets its head gently.

“Good job,” he praises.

The little lizard’s tail wags in response, and he lets a dangerous grin spread across his face. His team may be stuck in Konoha for a little while longer, but they’re not slowing down for anything.

He’s only getting started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter for With No Regrets, please look forward to the final part of the series! Before that, Sakura's got a few things to say, so look forward to that too. I also had to cut a few things from this chapter and those will end up in the Outtakes. Thank you for reading!


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